MUNSTER play their first game of the season at Thomond Park this Friday night. Their 8pm kick off against Treviso will be their second outing in this season’s Rabodirect Pro 12.
In preparation for this week’s game, it has emerged that Munster’s talisman Paul O’Connell is no nearer to a return to action. It had been believed that O’Connell would be back for Munster in week three of the RaboDriect.
Worryingly for Munster fans, O’Connell is not taking a full part in training just yet and Munster Rugby Head Coach Rob Penney does not know exactly when the former Lions captain will return.
When asked by the assembled media in UL this week about O’Connell’s return date, Penney replied.
“I don’t know. Paul will be ready when he is ready. He is under no pressure. We are under no pressure to get him right. He is just going to let us know when he is ready to go and we will react to that. There is a number of boys in that category. Paul will leave us know when he is ready to go and as I said, we will react to that. He is not doing all the rugby stuff yet, but at times he is close”
The second row has been out of action since he injured his knee in the Ulster Heineken Cup quarter final back in April of this year. Even more worryingly for Munster fans is that last week, O’Connell was confirmed as a possibility to play a role in week three of the season. This surely seems to mean that a set back must have taken place in the interim.
Looking ahead to this weekend, Rob Penney is taking charge of his first game at Thomond Park. The New Zealand native is looking forward to Friday night. So much so, that he might be getting too excited at the prospect.
“I have to keep a lid on myself so I don’t over excite the players and bubble up too much. For me it is going to be a wonderful experience. It will be my first experience of the stadium and I am really looking forward to it. I have seen it on television lots and the boys who used to come back from All Black tours, who had played down here, always spoke about Thomond Park with a degree of emotion that they never used for other games” added Penney.
In team news, following on from their opening round win in Edinburgh, Penney has made just two changes to his starting XV for Friday’s clash. Those changes occur up front where Stephen Archer gets the start at number three with BJ Botha dropping to the bench.
The other change sees Dave O’Callaghan get the nod over Paddy Butler at number six.
Munster Team to play Treviso:
Denis Hurley; Doug Howlett capt, Casey Laulala, James Downey, Luke O’Dea; Ian Keatley, Duncan Williams; Wian du Preez, Damien Varley, Stephen Archer; Donncha O’Callaghan, Billy Holland; Dave O’Callaghan, Sean Dougall, James Coughlan.
Replacements: Mike Sherry, Dave Kilcoyne, BJ Botha, Dave Foley, Paddy Butler, Peter Stringer, Scott Deasy, Ivan Dineen.
