HEINEKEN CUP NEWS ROUND-UP:COMETH their hour of need, cometh Superman. Ever the Drama Kings, Munster embark upon one of their fateful, do-or-die Heineken Cup missions in the cauldron that is Toulon's Stade Felix Mayol on Sunday, with Paul O'Connell set to start his first game for the province in 51 weeks.

O’Connell’s recent four-week suspension compounded his eight-month absence with a rare groin problem, denying him the kind of match fitness the Munster brains trust would have envisaged the Lions skipper having under his belt at this juncture.

Not so much desperate times calling for desperate measure, more a case of necessity being the mother of invention.

“Paul is in very good nick,” maintained head coach Tony McGahan yesterday. “It’s a very difficult situation because fitness-wise, he’s been back available to play since ERC 3, so nothing has really changed in that regard. It’s just game time.

“He’s always been fit, and if anything he’s been able to train harder and push himself. He’s obviously missing the game time that you really need to get game-fit, but certainly from that perspective he’s fine to start.”

His impending selection will be a blessed relief to the Irish management as well given it will take O’Connell four or five games to hit his straps and the Six Nations opener is four weeks away. But more pressingly, for Munster to extract the full benefit of his return, they need him to start. If he has 50 minutes in him, why leave his introduction until the last 30?

Furthermore, were he again on the bench O’Connell might be more inclined to hover on the fringes, whereas starting him would maximise his leadership credentials. And all the indications are those have already been to the fore, both for their indoor work-out in Mallow on Tuesday and yesterday’s sharp, more full-on outfield session – including a 15-minute match – at the Cork Institute of Technology.

“This week is huge for us,” said Johne Murphy yesterday, a relative newcomer to the Munster zeitgeist in win-or-bust Euro weeks such as this. “Paulie talked today that there is no next week. It’s this Sunday, that’s it, that’s how important it is.”

Murphy has detected a palpable difference in O’Connell’s vocal contributions and in training this week. “He’s someone that when he talks everyone listens, and he certainly has an air of leadership, responsibility, everything around him and he’s just a great leader. Just little snippets that he throws in are vitally important to us.

“From a personal point of view it’s been fantastic for me. I’m used to great leaders but Paul is certainly one of the best I’ve ever been around and it’s only been the first couple of weeks for me, so I’ve really enjoyed it.”

Meanwhile, Donncha O’Callaghan described his long-time sidekick’s return as “massive”, adding: “It’s great to have him back as a player but it’s also just for his leadership qualities, I think we need them at the moment. He’s an incredible leader, the way he talks and addresses the lads, and the high standards he sets for both himself and the rest of us is probably the biggest asset in getting him back this time. It’s great getting him back as a player but his leadership is needed more than ever.”

It’s pretty clear O’Connell is back, alright.

O’Connell returns to otherwise the same 27-man squad, save for the ineligible Peter Borlase, and asked whether he knew his starting team, McGahan smiled and said: “I do,” before admitting: “without a doubt it’s my toughest selection to date in my time here. We’ve got some quality players out, with the likes of Horan, Flannery, Dowling, Jones etc, who would have made it even more difficult. But certainly there are at least eight or nine genuinely tight calls right across the whole side, so it’s extremely difficult.”

The other selections which would have troubled McGahan were, most likely, at tighthead, scrumhalf and inside centre. That neither Borlase nor the 23-year-old Academy hooker Seán Henry were registered yesterday (Munster can still make that call by next Tuesday) confirms both John Hayes and Tony Buckley are fine, though it could be the latter’s virus last week will see Hayes start again – as was being whispered around Cork yesterday.

Peter Stringer, playing his best rugby in two years and benefiting from more game time for province and country, has never been pushing Tomás O’Leary so hard since the latter displaced him almost three years ago. O’Leary’s form has still not fully recovered after the finger injury he sustained in November, while Stringer’s service has given more time for the Munster midfield.

There, Lifeimi Mafi looked in good nick last Saturday against Glasgow with his footwork and distribution, but the needs of this encounter may yet demand a recall for Sam Tuitupou’s physicality and defence, given the Fijian inside centre Gabi Lovobalavu is often Toulon’s main launch pad up the middle.

Whether Toulon opt for Jonny Wilkinson or Felipe Contepomi at outhalf will be a signature selection, given they bring sharply contrasting games (Wilkinson landed three from seven drop goal attempts last Sunday against Racing), though as McGahan observed, Philippe Saint-Andre might well cover his options by incorporating both in a 10-12 axis.

“It gives them the ability to play tight and kick it if they need to, play direct, draw penalties from mauls, draw penalties from scrums and go for the points, set up field goal positions. And if they need to create stuff, if the opportunity is on it gives them that bit of flamboyance and that extra skill level Contepomi is well known for.”

Either way, with a 1,400-strong Red Army definitely travelling, the pressure is on this week, and not least on McGahan himself. “Well, being down here you sort of have a sense of that (pressure) every week, to be honest,” he said with a knowing smile.

“Every game is a big week, but certainly these games are the ones you want to be involved in. That’s the nature of the competition, that’s the nature of why you do the job. We really look forward to it, you enjoy the challenge of the many aspects of the job, to get the players up, to look at your training details, to look at what the opposition are doing and make sure you’re at your best, because that’s what we’ll be judged on come Sunday.”

MUNSTER(possible): P Warwick; D Howlett, K Earls, S Tuitupou, J Murphy; R O'Gara, P Stringer; W du Preez, D Varley, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, J Coughlan, D Wallace, D Leamy. Replacements: M Sherry, Darragh Hurley, T Buckley, M O'Driscoll, N Ronan, T O'Leary, L Mafi, Denis Hurley.