Embattled Munster seek redemption

EMBATTLED Munster have been down this road before. Backs-to-the-wall, smarting after a crushing defeat and facing into potentially season-defining fixture just seven days later.
Remember the transformation in the side’s display when beating Gloucester 33-6 at home in 2003, a week after suffering a 15-point away defeat to Perpignan, when routing Gloucester 35-14 the following season, seven days after shipping an 11-point away defeat to the ‘Cherry and Whites’ in Kingsholm and finally when overcoming the London Wasps by 16-points, six days after losing to Clermont Auvergne in France in January 2008.
Munster’s ability to bounce back in the face of adversity has set them apart for much of the previous 14 seasons of the Heineken Cup.
In the wake of last weekend’s 30-point drubbing at the hands of Leinster, Munster need to produce a vastly improved performance this Saturday against the Northampton Saints in their opening Heineken Cup Pool 1 fixture at Franklin’s Gardens (6pm).
Munster’s training sessions will be no place for the faint-hearted this week.
Among the key areas the twice Heineken Cup champions are sure to work on is the breakdown, where they were ineffective against Leinster at the RDS. The Magners League champions were physically unable to match Leinster’s excellent work in this area. Munster’s line-out was hugely disappointing as they continuously coughed up possession, even on their own throw.
Munster’s traditional teak tough disposition will be severely tested this weekend by a Northampton side which can lift themselves with memories of their 2000 Heineken Cup final win over the Irish province at Twickenham.
Despite last weekend’s narrow defeat to Wasps at Adams Park, the Saints have begun the Guinness Premiership season is impressive fashion.
A defeat this weekend will leave Munster facing an uphill battle to make the knock-out stages of the Heineken Cup for a 12th straight season. While Tony McGahan’s can reasonably expect to claim 10 points against Italian side Benetton Treviso, a defeat this weekend ahead of a daunting trip to the Stade Aime Giral to face Perpignan in December would be a blow to Munster’s hopes of making the last eight.


Coach Tony McGahan remains confident the province’s ‘quality senior players’ will help the side bounce back in style from their embarrassing defeat to Leinster.
McGahan revealed that some frank talking had been done in the Munster dressing room following Saturday’s 30-point drubbing at the hands of old rivals Leinster.
The Munster coach expects a positive response from his charges this weekend.
Skipper Paul O’Connell said the poor display against Leinster would act as a major motivating factor in Saturday’s clash with the Saints.
Everything needs to improve from last weekend. I think if it does, we have a good chance at the weekend,” O’Connell told this week’s launch of the 15th Heineken Cup.
“I think it will be a big motivation for us having had such a disappointing performance last Saturday. We did none of our basics well and that’s the most important thing you do.
“Going away to Northampton and going away to Perpignan are going to be incredibly tough games, so we’re going to be concentrating on getting out of our group first and foremost.”
With captain O’Connell, Jerry Flannery and David Wallace successfully coming through their first appearances of the season on Saturday, it seems certain that coach McGahan will make several changes to his starting line-up for the tie with Northampton. Back-row forwards Denis Leamy and Alan Quinlan are also available to play having recovered from minor injuries.
Tony Buckley is likely to come into the front-row in the absence of the suspended John Hayes.
Paul Warwick, despite throwing the intercept pass for Shane Horgan’s third Leinster try, looked lively when introduced at the RDS and the Aussie, who has just returned from a foot injury, could well force his way into the starting line-up for Saturday.
Warwick was outstanding for Munster last season.
Ian McGeechan, who faced Munster in the Heineken Cup in 2007-‘08 while head coach at London Wasps, said he expects the Magners League holders to produce a vastly improved performance this weekend.
But former Lions head coach McGeechan says the Saints will provide stubborn resistance.
“You look at the characters involved and I have no doubt it will be a very different Munster side next Saturday at Franklin’s Gardens,” Ian McGeechan, who visits Limerick next week to promote his new autobiography Lion Man, told Leader Sport.
“Munster have experience and strength of character when they pulled on a jersey.
“Early on a lot of teams can have a slow start in the Heineken Cup. The most important thing is winning because you pick the form up and the intensity as the season goes on.
“Northampton have started quite strongly. I know they lost to Wasps at the weekend. But they are a physical side. It will be a tough game at Northampton.
“They rarely lose there. They will certainly be looking forward to it.”

Heineken Cup 2009-10
Pool 1 - Round 1
Northampton Saints v Munster
Saturday, October 10 @ 6pm
Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)
TV: Live Sky Sports Xtra, 5.45pm
Highlights: RTE 2, 10.35pm
Match betting: Northampton 10/11,
Munster 10/11 & Draw 18/1.
(Odds courtesy of PaddyPower.com)

Colm Kinsella

John Hayes handed six-week suspension

MUNSTER rugby will await the written copy of the IRFU disciplinary panel in the coming days before deciding whether to appeal against the six-week suspension imposed on prop John Hayes in Belfast yesterday.


The ban, as it stands, will prevent Hayes from playing in Munster’s opening two fixtures in the Heineken Cup as well as two fixtures in the Magners League.
Hayes was red-carded in the 54th minute of Munster’s Magners League tie with Leinster at the RDS on Saturday following a stamp on prop Cian Healy.
An IRFU statement issued last night read: “Having studied the match footage and heard all available evidence, the three-man IRFU disciplinary panel of chairman Hugh Logan, assisted by Stephen Hilditch and Neil Jackson, confirmed that the offence constituted a high end entry level in terms of sanctions.
“Having also considered all mitigating factors, the panel imposed a six-week suspension from the date of the offence on Saturday, October 3 up to and including Saturday, November 14.”
Cappamore man Hayes attended the hearing held in Ravenhill accompanied by team manager Shaun Payne and legal advisor Donal Spring.
Afterwards, in a statement issued through team manager Payne, Hayes expressed his disappointment with the decision.
Payne’s statement read: “John (Hayes) regrets the incident happened at all.
“He has a long and unblemished professional rugby career spanning twelve seasons and would not be regarded by anybody including opponents as being a dirty player.
“He is very disappointed with the sanction, given that the committee accepted the action wasn’t intentional yet decided the entry point for the offence to be at the higher range, the nine weeks reduced to six in mitigation.”
Hayes has had an impeccable disciplinary record through a long and distinguished career which has seen him play more than 300 games for Bruff, Shannon, Munster, Ireland and the Lions.
The six-week suspension will result in John Hayes missing four games for Munster, the two opening round Heineken Cup pool matches away to Northampton on Saturday and at home to Benetton Treviso a week later. Thirty-five-year-old Hayes will also be unavailable for the away Magners League game against Edinburgh on October 23 and the home game against Ulster eight days later. John Hayes’ suspension is due to end on Saturday November 14, the day before Ireland play their first fixture in the autumn international series against Australia.
Munster will wait until they have received the written copy of the decision before deciding whether or not to appeal.
Munster’s sole focus now will be on Saturday’s opening round Heineken Cup Pool 1 clash away to the Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens (6pm).
Coach Tony McGahan will be looking for a big response from his players in the wake of their embarrassing 30-point defeat to Leinster in the Magners League last weekend. Munster’s first round opponent Northampton also come into Saturday’s tie on the back of a loss.
The Saints went under to London Wasps in the English Guinness Premiership.
With captain Paul O’Connell, Jerry Flannery and David Wallace successfully coming through their first appearances of the season on Saturday, it seems certain that coach McGahan will make several changes to his starting line-up for the tie with Northampton.
Back-row forwards Denis Leamy and Alan Quinlan are also available to play having recovered from minor injuries.

COLM KINSELLA

Ollie Moran calls it a day

OLLIE Moran, who turned out for Limerick in 13 consecutive seasons, has decided to call a halt to his inter-county hurling career.
Moran, one of Limerick’s finest servants since he made his inter-county debut for the Shannonsiders in 1997, played his final game for the county last August when Justin McCarthy’s men suffered a heavy All-Ireland semi-final defeat at the hands of Tipperary.


The 33-year-old, who won county titles with Ahane in 1998, 1999 and 2004, explained to Leader Sport that a cartilage problem in his right knee hastened his departure from the inter-county scene: “I had my mind made up before I walked off the field in Croke Park after the Tipperary game.
“It was a big struggle for me to get fit this year and I knew that 2009 was going to be my last hurrah.”
Although Moran never let Limerick down he believes that the 2001 and 2007 campaigns represent his finest performances for Limerick.
“They were the only two years that we had a decent run in the championship and personally I felt that I played well in both 2001 and 2007,” Ollie Moran said.
“We really left the 2001 Munster final behind us, Tipp got the rub of the green that day and then went on to win the All-Ireland.
“2007 was also unique and the three games we had against Tipperary were definitely the highlight of my career. They were super games to be involved in.”
Off the back of some extraordinary performances at centre-forward Ollie Moran inspired Limerick to an All-Ireland final appearance against Kilkenny two years ago. Indeed Moran’s displays earned him an All Star in 2007: “I always had reservations about playing centre-forward, but as that year went on I got better and better - everything just caught fire for me.”
Ollie Moran, who won five Railway Cups with Munster, launched his own business this year - Ollie Moran Financial Services - while the Ahane man was also thrilled when he celebrated the birth of his son David with his wife Lisa last April.
You suspect that if Moran brings the same commitment and desire to his business as he did to hurling that Ollie is destined for success in the financial world. Those developments in Moran’s life however made it more difficult for the incredibly popular Ahane man to give hurling the commitment it deserved: “It was difficult for me to give time to Limerick this year and to work on getting my form back. At times I didn’t think I was in the position to do myself justice.”
Moran, who joined the extended Limerick panel as a 22-year-old in 1996, remains proud of his exploits with the Shannonsiders despite only winning a National League title in 1997.
“Some guys get more medals than others and there’s a lot of poor players out there who won a lot more than I did,” Moran explained.
“We definitely had some bad days, but we also had some great days.
“The big thing for me though was the friendships I made throughout my time playing for Limerick.
“I made friends that I will carry with me through my whole life. Medals are one thing, but it’s the memories and friendships that will last forever. There’s a kinship which develops between players over time. And, I feel very priviledged to have played so long for Limerick.”
Moran is determined to keep hurling with his club Ahane and suggests that he may try his hand at coaching: “I will definitely try to give it another few years with the club. Playing at any level is still a full-time job and that’s all I’m in a position to concentrate on. But certainly coaching is something I would be interested in getting involved in. I think it is something I would enjoy.”

Brian McDonnell