Walsh Looks Ahead To London Irish

Assistant Coach Brian Walsh reflects on Munster’s pre-season performances to date and looks ahead to this Friday’s clash with London Irish at Irish Independent Park (KO 7pm) in the final game of the Keary’s Renault Series.

With two losses from two against Grenoble and Connacht, Walsh explains that, unlike the competitive season, pre-season isn’t primarily about getting a result, but more so experimenting and blooding players for what lies ahead.

“There’s a balance to it, obviously you want to win the games if you can, but with a number of new additions, guys back from injury and a group that haven’t played together for a while, you won’t get the perfect performance.

“It’s important for us to get fellas through the first couple of matches, to build some confidence mentally as well as physically, and through that you try out some different combinations to see how things settle. I would expect us to be more settled this weekend.

“In the Connacht game we got off to a decent start but we never matched Connacht’s intensity throughout the 80 minutes. Connacht had played Grenoble and were over in Castres, played a good solid game there and targeted our game for a big performance, which they got.

“It was disappointing in how we played in that game but in terms of our preparation it’s good that it happened now. We’ve had a good look at it and know where to work on.”

One big positive from last weekend was the return of Mike Sherry to the field of play with the Assistant Coach reporting that the hooker suffered no ill effects from his first forty minutes of rugby in almost two years.

“Getting Mike back on the pitch was very positive, as was getting the likes of Gerhard (van den Heever) and Dave (O’Callaghan) back too. I think we had eight or nine guys coming back for differing reasons and it was good to get those guys back.”

As Assistant Coach with responsibility for attack and backs, Walsh is also pleased with how Clontarf RFC signing Matt D’Arcy has acquitted himself since joining the professional ranks.

“Moving from a club to the professional ranks, it’s the same game but a different intensity. I thought he did very well, particularly in the Grenoble game. One of the big questions for guys moving from the AIL into the professional game is how will he handle the physicality? So far he’s shown himself to be a very good player with a lot of potential and now it’s about how we manage him over the next period to ensure that he doesn’t break and gets a good run at it.”

On the injury front Walsh also commented on Tyler Bleyendaal saying that the New Zealander continues to monitor a manageable groin issue and his involvement on Friday will be assessed later this week. Robin Colepand (shoulder) trained fully this morning, while Jack O’Donoghue had a scan for a possible pectoral tear with Walsh happy to report it would not be a long term injury.

On the potential side Munster will field this weekend, Walsh concluded by saying, “We haven’t selected the side yet but we will be looking at fellas who have given us some consistency over the last couple of games and who have been training well. Knocks and bangs will have an impact on it and you want everybody to get a bit of game time before we start the league and play for keeps, but that said I think it will be a pretty strong side.”

Head Coach Anthony Foley will name his side to face London Irish in the final game of the Kearys Renault Series on Thursday.

Join us at the newly redeveloped Irish Independent Park this Friday night for Munster's first visit of the season to Cork – KO 7pm. A wide range of ticket options to suit all needs and budgets are now on sale.

Tickets:
· Adults from €;15
· Adult & Child from €;18
· Family (2 Adults & 2 Children) from €;30
· Juniors from €;7

Tickets can be purchased online here, from the Munster Rugby Ticket Offices at Irish Independent Park and Thomond Park, or by calling 0818 719 300.