Coach Tony McGahan’s high-flying Munster side face Edinburgh this Friday at Murrayfield in their first away fixture of the campaign - kick-off is at 7.05pm.
Munster travel to Scotland boosted by the return of international stars Ronan O’Gara, Tomas O’Leary and Donnacha O’Callaghan.
However, a number of other seasoned internationals are facing periods on the sidelines due to injury.
Team captain Paul O’Connell is expected to be out of action until Christmas due to a groin injury while it is hoped that Keith Earls will be available for selection for the opening rounds of the Heineken Cup next month after sustaining an ankle sprain. The 22-year-old is due to have a scan this week.
Irish hooker Jerry Flannery is ruled out with a calf problem at present although the management team is hopeful he will be back playing in two weeks time.
David Wallace’s pre-season training was limited by a back injury which is an on-going issue. However, the Munster management team hope to have him available for selection from Monday next.
Tom Gleeson and Declan Cusack are ruled out with groin injuries while Barry Murphy is troubled with a hamstring injury.
It is hoped that centre Lifeimi Mafi will be available for the big round three Magners League tie with the Ospreys at Thomond Park later this month. Mafi has resumed training.
And, James Coughlan is sidelined after suffering concussion in the pre-season tie with the Leicester Tigers. Despite the number of high-profile absentees from the trip to Scotland, Shaun Payne remains upbeat about the talent available for selection.
“On the injury front we’re quite positive at the moment with (Lifeimi) Mafi back and (Keith) Earls not being out for too long,” Shaun Payne said.
“I know Paulie (O’Connell) is a long-term injury, but I think we’re starting to look pretty good.
“Denis Leamy has been a massive positive coming back in for us.
“Donncha Ryan, as well, has recovered from his shoulder injury.
“Almost all of our front rowers are injury free and ready to go which is unheard of for most squads.
“Definitely our away form last season wasn’t good enough.
“First and foremost you have to win your home games. But if you want to be a semi-finalist you want to be picking up games away from home. Everything went with the home teams in the first week. This week is an opportunity to show ourselves away from home. It’s a massive game for us in terms of that.
“This time last season we had lost our first game against Glasgow. It was a very poor performance. We did poorly in the scrums and really there wasn’t much to be positive about.
“There is a lot to work on, but that is the norm. We’ve only had two pre-season games this season whereas normally we would have three.
“So it’s as if we are still in pre-season in a way, but we’re happy with the way it is turning out. The scrums are a massive positive.
“We have a lot of work to do in the lineouts. We turned over far too much ball in the first half last week. We settled in the second half and got into our stride and when we managed to string the phases together we had Aironi in trouble.”
While Munster opened their Magners League campaign with a four-try, bonus-point win over Italian newcomers Aironi Rugby at Musgrave Park, Edinburgh suffered a disappointing reverse at the hands of the Cardiff Blues.
Munster squad v Edinburgh: Wian du Preez, Marcus Horan, Damien Varley, Denis Fogarty, John Hayes, Tony Buckley, Donncha O’Callaghan, Billy Holland, Donnacha Ryan, Mick O’Driscoll, Ian Nagle, Alan Quinlan, Niall Ronan, Denis Leamy, Tommy O’Donnell, Peter O’Mahony, Peter Stringer, Tomas O’Leary, Duncan Williams, Paul Warwick, Ronan O’Gara, Sam Tuitupou, Johne Murphy, Danny Barnes, Doug Howlett, Ian Dowling, Felix Jones, Scott Deasy & Denis Hurley.
Mickey Cross
Limerick rugby enthusiasts have been saddened to learn of the passing of Mickey Cross, Hyde Road, who has died peacefully following a short illness at the age of 83.
An accomplished rugby player in his younger days Mickey Cross was the holder of four Munster Junior Cup medals,two of which he won with Richmond RFC and the remaining two with Young Munster.
The late Mr Cross was also a highly regarded rugby coach and was renowned for the work he did for more than 30 years with under-age teams from under-10s upwards at Young Munster. The popular rugby enthusiast remained a keen follower of rugby at all levels of the game throughout his life.
COLM KINSELLA
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