Munster men must do the simple things right

MUNSTER number eight James Coughlan believes the Magners League leaders must do ‘the simple things right’ if they are to record a rare victory over Ulster at Ravenhill this Friday night (7.05pm).
Munster currently enjoy a four-point lead over the Scarlets at the top of the Magners League table.
However, the province’s record in Belfast is poor in recent times with Munster recording just one victory over Ulster since 2004.
Coughlan, who bagged a try in Munster’s impressive win over Benetton Treviso on Friday night, agreed that visiting teams traditionally find it hard to secure an away victory over Ulster.
“Ravenhill is always a difficult place to go. The last time we won up there was about three years ago. Anyone who goes up there finds it hard,” James Coughlan said.
“Again I think it comes back to our set-piece, our line-out, our scrum, doing the simple things right. If we can win the small battles as it were, then hopefully we are good enough on the night to get a result. We had a good result against Treviso. It is always hard, especially after the emotions of the previous week (v Toulon), a massive game for us, one we had to win.
“We needed to roll up our sleeves and dig in. Our set piece was very good in the first half there. The scrum was excellent. We converted any time we got inside their ’22 which was important. Overall, I am pleased with the result. Sure there are things we need to fix up, but after a tough week last week it was important to get the result.
“I am pleased with our scrum. We worked hard on it during the week and the week before. It seems to be coming on. We got about 14 points out of it tonight which is a fantastic return from any set-piece.”
Munster must plan without several front-line Irish internationals who are preparing for the upcoming Guinness Series. Hooker Jerry Flannery could yet be fit in time for the last of Ireland’s autumn internationals against New Zealand next month and also Munster’s Heineken Cup back-to-back ties against the Ospreys in December. Flannery saw a specialist in Liverpool on Friday regarding his ongoing calf muscle problems and the diagnosis was better than expected with a four week rest expected to solve the problem.
Meanwhile, the Ireland squad is continuing their training camp in Limerick for the remainder of this week, before transferring to Dublin ahead of the first game of the Guinness Series against South Africa in the Aviva Stadium.
Ireland head coach Declan Kidney has braced his side for a gruelling November playing schedule. After the South African fixture, Ireland face Samoa, New Zealand and Argentina on successive weekends at the Aviva Stadium as the countdown to next year’s World Cup begins in earnest.

Colm Kinsella