Quinlan will move within one cap of record holder Anthony Foley who made 201 appearances for the province, should the 36-year-old, as expected, see action in this weekend’s tie.
Quinlan made his debut for Munster in 1996 in a friendly tie against Western Samoa at Musgrave Park and is in his 15th season playing with the province. It took Quinlan almost nine years to accumulate his first 100 caps in the red of Munster and just five to complete the second century.
Current Munster squad advisor, Mick Galwey, who played alongside Quinlan at Shannon, Munster and ireland, said the flanker’s passion for the jersey helped him maintain at the top of his profession for so long.
Galwey, the first player to win 100 Munster caps said: “I remember him when he won his first cap, his first few caps, his first Heineken Cup start. They all meant so much to him and even to this day I can still see that putting on the Munster jersey means so much to Alan.”
Munster received a major boost ahead of key upcoming fixtures with confirmation that centre Lifeimi Mafi will make his return to competitive action for the province’s ‘A’ side in the interprovincial clash with the Ulster Ravens at Nenagh Ormond’s grounds this Friday (4.30pm). Twenty-eight-year-old Mafi has been sidelined since undergoing surgery for a shoulder injury last May.
Mafi’s return to fitness is a major boost for the province, with Ireland’s international centre Keith Earls also on the sidelines at present.
Earls is, expected to be out of action until Munster’s opening round fixtures in the Heineken Cup next month.
Munster manager Shaun Payne explained: “We are very happy, obviously, with the recovery Mafs (Lifeimi Mafi) has made from the shoulder surgery. We are not going to put him straight back in to the senior team. We will let him line out for the A side this week with a view to towards the upcoming ERC games and the Magners League matches with Glasgow and Leinster.
“It’s a little bit ahead of schedule. He has been absolutely outstanding for us in the past couple of seasons. Last season he was struggling a bit with that shoulder and right throughout the season, it was one that was hanging over him. He’s a dynamic player.”
The Ospreys completed a home and away double over Munster in the Magners League last season and Payne believes the Welsh side will prove an even bigger test this season.
“Now they have had good results against us and against Leinster last year they will have confidence to boot to go with what has always been an excellent squad.
“They have been good in the Magners League so far - Ospreys are certainly dangerous.”
Manager Payne agreed this weekend’s game takes on an added dimension as the clubs have been drawn in the same pool in this season’s Heineken Cup.
“Yeah, Saturday’s game does take on an added dimension.
“Obviously there are four games minimum against them this season so it’s quite strange in a way,” Shaun Payne said.
“We have the double header against them in the Heineken Cup towards the end of the year.
“But in seasons past everything would have been centred on the Heineken Cup whereas the Welsh sides, the Scottish sides and ourselves - we’ll wait and see what the Italians are doing - but we seem to be placing more and more emphasis on the Magners League games as well.
“So it’s a case of what do you want to give away in these games, do you want to hold anything back for the Heineken Cup games? We’re just approaching it game by game at the minute, obviously building up to the ERC games.”
Munster’s starting line-up to face the Ospreys is due to be announced at mid-day on Friday.
Munster squad v Ospreys: Denis Hurley, Felix Jones, Scott Deasy, Ian Dowling, Doug Howlett, Danny Barnes, Johne Murphy, Sam Tuitupou, Ronan O’Gara, Paul Warwick, Duncan Williams, Peter Stringer, Tomas O’Leary, Wian du Preez, Marcus Horan, Damien Varley, Denis Fogarty, John Hayes, Tony Buckley, Donncha O’Callaghan, Billy Holland, Donncha Ryan, Mick O’Driscoll, Ian Nagle, Alan Quinlan.
Colm Kinsella
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