Munster making do as always

Celtic League: For Munster and Leinster especially, so begins another make-do-and-mend Celtic League campaign. Beginning in Swansea tonight, when a strong-looking Ospreys host a comparatively makeshift Munster, the Welsh look better poised to hit the ground running. But then again, this is nothing particularly new for Munster.

Last season, Munster's "Ireland" contingent were, in theory, available for seven rounds of the 22-game Celtic programme. In reality the likes of Peter Stringer, Ronan O'Gara and John Hayes played only two Celtic League matches.

Thus, Munster will take a whole cellar of salt with the notion that their frontliners should be available for nine rounds of the 20-game campaign. It's also been their misfortune that their new captain, Anthony Foley, Stringer, O'Gara and co would have been around for the two games against the disbanded Celtic Warriors but now find themselves kicking their heels on those two "free" weekends.

The last time Munster played Ulster with a full hand was in the Celtic League semi-finals two seasons ago, when they went on to win the trophy. This season's meetings clash with an Ireland training camp the week before the autumn internationals and the final weekend of the Six Nations.

In other respects though, Munster coach Alan Gaffney is upbeat, not least about their Cork contingent staying overnight in Limerick one night per week: "We're better prepared than we were this time last year, and one year of playing the Celtic League should be of enormous benefit to the younger players who were on a learning curve last year."

Gaffney can already detect an improvement in defence, as one of the spin-offs of Munster's increased time together in one base has been that their new defensive coach, Graham Steadman, a British Rugby League recruit, has been able to take full sessions every week.

Ideally, Gaffney now concedes, he would have preferred a third warm-up game, not least to give his four midfielders - Mike Mullins, Jason Holland, Rob Henderson and new recruit James Storey - more game time. A trimmed-down Henderson misses out completely tonight. Gaffney maintains "not too much should be read into that at this stage" - Henderson did aggravate a hamstring problem in pre-season - though clearly competition is going to be stiffer here.

The arrival of Paul Burke would also appear to fill a gaping void given O'Gara's international involvements, as the Harlequins capture is a specialist outhalf and goalkicker.

It's surely no coincidence that Munster hit their richest vein of form last season during the European Cup's four-week slot in January, which culminated in them beating Gloucester, Treviso and Bourgoin with bonus points in all three games.

The return to the format of three blocks of two, at the behest of the English and French clubs, won't suit the Irish provinces. Munster and Leinster both lost when returning "cold" to the European Cup after an Ireland training camp over Christmas.

All three resume their European Cup campaigns, after the autumnal tests and a month without their frontliners, against French sides, and Munster have been dealt the toughest hand of all, compelled as they are to play Castres away the Friday after Ireland play the Pumas.

"That's a six-day turnaround, including a travel day," says Gaffney. "They'll drive back on the Sunday. We'll have to give them a rest day on the Monday, train twice on Tuesday, once on Wednesday morning, and then Thursday is a travel day.

"You would have thought the Argentinian game would have been factored into the equation, and we made our objections known, but ERC are a law unto themselves. It's absolute madness - it's a draw from hell.

"People say we've got a fair draw (the Ospreys and Harlequins complete their pool) and I agree, we have got a fair draw if everything was equal."

In the broader scheme of things, Gaffney says: "We've got to have more confidence in the way we know we should play and be more precise. We have got a full understanding of the way we want to play but at times last season our structures fell apart under pressure."

Invariably, after his injury-delayed, low-key first season, much will be expected of Christian Cullen now he's had an injury-free pre-season. As a high-profile signing, and the All Blacks' record try-scorer, that goes with the territory.

Admitting last season wasn't vintage Cullen, Gaffney says: "There are no excuses for Cully. But we've still got to understand the way he plays. We've watched the videos and he's making great runs into holes but we don't offload the ball to him. We're still not accustomed to him."

Cullen was part of a general malaise against London Irish, and Gaffney adds: "Christian would be the first to admit the first 50 minutes against Newcastle wasn't the real Christian Cullen. But in the last 30 minutes Cully was fine; Cully was very, very good."

Cullen may never recapture the form of his golden years in the late 90s, when he was the most lethal strike runner and try-scorer on the planet, and doesn't have the same capacity to finish off his own breaks from distance. But there remained glimpses of this ability last season, as evidenced in the semi-final against Wasps, which faltered for lack of support.

In this context, Gaffney maintained: "We've analysed this in pre-season and our reaction time to breaks is a hell of a lot better already this season."

It would help Cullen no end, of course, if Munster were at full strength and on the front foot more often, but that's another story that will only be revealed over the coming season.