AFTER the return to action last weekend of Marcus Horan, John Hayes and Peter Stringer, Munster have included Irish internationals, Donncha O’Callaghan, Ronan O’Gara and Tomas O’Leary in their squad to face Edinburgh this coming Friday night. (Kick off 19.05 BBC Alba)
Speaking this week, Munster coach Tony Mc Gahan explained the ‘drip feeding’ return of the internationals to the fold.
“At this stage, some of the international contingent is available to be selected for the Edinburgh game and play some time off the bench. We will just have to see how everyone pulls up in training. At this stage they are all ready to play.”
Keith Earls, Paul O Connell, Barry Murphy, David Wallace and Lifeimi Mafi are still all unavailable for the trip to Scotland. There have been no new developments on the Earls and O Connell injuries, while Murphy (leg), Mafi (shoulder) and Wallace (back) are all expected to be available in the coming weeks.
Winning away in the Magners league is becoming harder by the week. Six home wins last weekend just proved that. Munster coach Mc Gahan has his theories on why.
“We only won two away games last season. As sides get better and progress, they make their home a fortress. Look at sides like the Dragons and Connacht, who necessarily don’t finish at the top of the table, but are incredibly hard to beat away. One of our main aims this season is to win away more. We need to learn that things will not go our way in those games, but we need to adapt to that. If you want to do well, you need to make sure you are winning games on the road You have to adopt a business approach to those games”.
With Munster’s record at Murrayfield an excellent won 5, lost 1, this weekend’s game should be an opportunity to start the new ‘away’ season on a high. For those with Sky TV, BBC Alba can be found on 11.954 H 27500 2/3