Doug Howlett
Thanks to a bonus-point clinching 28-14 win over Edinburgh at Musgrave Park on Saturday last, Munster retained their leadership of the Magners League to keep their double ambitions firmly alive.
That the province is proving altogether more competitive in the League this season owes much to the experience that Declan Kidney brought into the squad at the head of the 07/08 season.
Throwing in the home-grown talent that Tony McGahan has unleashed this season to date with the now bedded-in foreign staff means the odds on a unique Magners/Heineken success continue to shorten for Munster.
But it shall not be easy, as the Ospreys, Munster’s European Cup quarter-final opponents, remain just three points adrift after 11 rounds of the League with Leinster third on scoring difference.
Tellingly, both teams must travel to Thomond Park (Leinster on April 4th, Ospreys in mid-May), which leaves Munster in the box seat with seven matches remaining.
Alan Quinlan’s value to the team was again proven last Saturday when he stepped in as a late second row replacement for Donnacha Ryan, who suffered a family bereavement.
See The Munster Express newspaper for a more detailed report.
