McGahan pleased by display against full strength Ulster side

MUNSTER coach Tony McGahan said the display of their understrength pack in the weekend Magners League defeat to Ulster highlighted the strength in depth of the squad at present.
Munster recovered from the concession of 15 unanswered points inside the opening quarter at Ravenhill to secure a precious losing bonus point against a full-strength Ulster outfit.
While Munster will be concerned about the obvious shortcomings in the scrum in the absence of their frontline international forwards, Ulster failed to take full advantage of their dominance in this area and the visitors will feel that with a bit more cutting edge in the second half they could have been toasting a winning start to the New Year.
The losing bonus point secured by Munster keeps the Magners League holders in position to claim a top four play-off spot.
However, coach McGahan will be anxious that his charges get back to winning ways in Sunday’s round 11 clash against the Llanelli Scarlets at Musgrave Park given the fiercely competitive nature of the competition (5pm).
While Munster have recorded just one win at Ravenhill since 2004, coach McGahan described the forwards’ display in Belfast as one of the best in recent seasons.
“It is an excellent indication of the depth of the squad. You are playing against a side which has led for different parts of the Magners League,” Tony McGahan said.
“Ulster have an excellent record here at home in Ravenhill, not alone this season, but in previous ones as well.
“To come up here, it was one of the better efforts we have put in here over a number of years.”
McGahan said he felt the players’ effort and application had been excellent apart from the spell in the opening quarter when they conceded two soft tries: “I thought we worked hard enough to get the result and put ourselves in.
“Our execution let us down on a few occasions. We came up short in the end,” McGahan said.
“Ulster are an excellent scrummaging side and they put us under immense pressure. They talked about it in the days leading up to the game. It is always an on-going process with the set-piece.
“We have been pretty solid in that area for the past three or four weeks. We were up against a very good scrum in Ulster and we will have to go forward from here.”
Flanker Niall Ronan, who was forced off with a thigh injury after just 25 minutes of the game at Ravenhill, is set to be available for selection for the key clash with the Scarlets. Coach McGahan reported that Ronan had sustained a dead leg in the game.
Experienced prop Marcus Horan is also in line to be included in the Munster squad for Sunday’s visit of the Scarlets to Musgrave Park.
Horan has made a very satisfactory recovery having undergone a routine medical procedure in October.
The international prop had been due to make his comeback during Shannon’s scheduled ODM Munster Senior Cup semi-final meeting with UCC at Clifford Park on Saturday. However, that game fell victim to the freezing weather. The game is now likely to take place at a Limerick venue on Saturday, January 30.
The second semi-final between Young Munster and Cork Constitution which was also called off due to the current cold snap is now likely to go ahead on Sunday, February 7
Garryowen’s rescheduled AIL Division 1A tie with Dolphin, which was due to be played at Dooradoyle on Saturday, was also postponed due to a frozen pitch.
Thomond experienced a frustrating weekend also as their rescheduled Division 2 clash with Clonakilty at The Vale was a late casualty of the cold weather.

COLM KINSELLA