[caption id="attachment_71487" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Paul O’Connell in action for Munster."]
AN injury to Paul O’Connell marred Munster’s final RaboDirect Pro12 league victory over Ulster at Thomond Park last Saturday night.
The 36-8 win over a weakened Ulster outfit means that Munster will face the Ospreys away in Friday night’s first RaboDirect semi-final. The second semi-final sees Leinster taking on Glasgow at the RDS on Saturday.
O’ Connell’s knee injury will definitely rule him out of Munster’s visit to Wales. Worryingly, it could also rule him out of Ireland’s tour to New Zealand next month.
The concern is that O’Connell has suffered a recurrence of the same knee problem which saw him sidelined for six weeks following Ireland’s 17-17 Six Nations away draw with France. The second-row intends to see a specialist later this week but the signs do not look at all promising.
The injuries to O’Connell and hooker Damien Varley apart, things generally went reasonably well for Munster in what was coach Tony McGahan’s last game in charge at Thomond Park before he departs for Australia. The home side scored five tries through Simon Zebo, Peter O’Mahony, Mick Sherry, Stephen Archer and Tommy O’Donnell.
But McGahan is looking for a further improvement against the Ospreys. Ulster, with Saturday week’s Heineken Cup final on their minds, fielded virtually a second string team.
Elsewhere, their Heineken Cup final opponents Leinster also picked a second string side for their final RaboDirect League outing away to Newport Gwent Dragons. Even so, Leinster managed to come away with a 22-18 victory to maintain their 10 points gap at the top of the table.
Prop Jack McGrath got their only try with the remainder of the points coming from the accurate boot of out-half Ian Madigan. The opponents in Saturday night’s semi-final at the RDS will be Glasgow after the Scottish side accounted for Connacht 24-3 in their final league game at Firhill.
Coach Eric Elwood was hoping for a better show but generally Connacht can be pleased with their finish to the season. A good late run has seen them move up to a very respectable eight place in the table.
Wallace retires
IRISH flanker David Wallace has become the latest Munster player to announce his retirement.
The 35-year-old forward has called it a day after an outstanding career which saw him help Ireland to the Grand Slam and feature in two Munster Heineken Cup winning teams. He also played for the Lions.
There have been few more consistent performers on the Irish scene. So much so, that Paul O’Connell described Wallace as Munster’s best performer in the last 12 years.
Unfortunately, Wallace hasn’t fully recovered from a knee injury sustained in Ireland’s World Cup warm-up match against England. The injury duly ruled him out of the World Cup and this season’s Six Nations campaign.
He did make a return for Munster but the knee was still clearly causing him problems. Overall, however, he has had precious few complaints.
“I’ve been lucky to have enjoyed a great career.” he stressed. “The Grand Slam and two Heineken Cup wins with Munster were highlights.
“It’s always disappointing to have to retire but I’ve had a good innings and I’m now looking forward to playing more attention to some of my business interests.”
Meanwhile, Leinster and Ireland have been dealt a severe blow with the confirmation that wing Luke Fitzgerald will miss the reminder of the season.
Fitzgerald is to undergo surgery on a neck problem. This will rule him out of Leinster’s Heineken Cup final against Ulster on Saturday week and Ireland’s tour to New Zealand in June.
It’s a considerable blow as he has been in excellent form for Leinster. From an Irish point of view, he is the second wing to be unavailable for the New Zealand tour, Tommy Bowe having ruled himself out last month.
O’Donovan may
manage Munster
New Zealander Rob Penney taking over as Munster coach might also herald Niall O’Donovan taking over from the departing Shaun Payne as manager. They are also likely to need a backs coach as Jason Holland’s contract is not expected to be renewed at the end of the season.
Although they won all of the games in their pool to qualify as top seeds for the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup, the season has not gone as planned for Munster. Their defeat at home to Ulster in the Heineken Cup quarter-final was a major setback.
So Penney clearly has a big job on his hands if Munster are to get back to where they want to be. David Wallace, Jerry Flannery, John Hayes, Alan Quinlan and Mick O’Driscoll have all retired, with Tomas O’Leary departing for London Irish and Lifeimi Mafi joining Perpignan.
