Settled Dragons to prove a real test for Munster

MAGNERS LEAGUE: Munster v N-G DragonsON THE fourth Sunday of last season a bedraggled Dragons side arrived in Cork for their third game in eight days and were routinely put to the sword by a virtually full-strength Munster side, when one of Keith Earls' hat-trick of tries took the breath away.

Now, though, it is the Dragons who arrive settled and confident, with Munster only beginning to resemble themselves.

Lions captain Paul O’Connell, named in the original selection for his seasonal debut, has been ruled out due to a slight hamstring problem. Donncha O’Callaghan is promoted from the bench, where Donnacha Ryan comes in.

Thus, O’Connell and Leinster’s Brian O’Driscoll will make their seasonal reappearances next weekend at the RDS.

Even so, in addition to O’Callaghan, Munster welcome back Earls, Ronan O’Gara and Nick Williams, while Jean de Villiers is likely to make his debut for much or all of the second half.

Back in the days when the IRFU and Munster and Leinster had a less than wholehearted approach to the league, the Dragons actually completed a double over Munster in the 2003-04 season, winning 16-6 on their first visit to Thomond Park in March, ’04.

Munster won the next four meetings at Musgrave Park, and have won the last five contests in a row, but this game is unlikely to be in the realms of the last two matches in Cork, in which Munster ran up 95 points and 14 tries.

Dragons arrive in second place in the table as Wales’ form side, buoyed by close-season acquisitions. Paul Turner is again doing a superb job, and they have pace out wide and play a lively, high-tempo brand of rugby.

“They look well-coached, well-drilled and know exactly what they’re doing in attack and defence,” admits Tony McGahan. “They’ve hit the ground running, trying to play positive rugby.

“They’re playing with a full deck, they’ve recruited well, they’ve got Brew there, Fussell’s playing well, Arlidge is directing things well, Bearman is a strong running forward and they’ve got a strong scrum.

“They’re the real deal at this stage of the season and they’ll see us as a targeted ‘away’ with so many blokes coming back into the set-up. They’ll think we’ll be rusty . . . there’s no reason why you’d doubt that, so we need to concentrate on what we’re doing.”

Still, Munster are on an eight-match winning run at home.

McGahan says it’s vital that Munster are comfortable in what they’re doing, “whether it’s flashy or not. It will depend on how the guys pick it up because we’ve had absolutely no continuity in training or selection.”

MUNSTER: K Earls; F Jones, B Murphy, L Mafi, D Hurley; R O'Gara, T O'Leary; M Horan, D Fogarty, T Buckley; M O'Driscoll, D O'Callaghan; A Quinlan, T O'Donnell, N Williams. Replacements: D Varley, J Brugnaut, D Ryan, J Coughlan, T Morland, J Manning, J de Villiers.

DRAGONS: M Thomas; A Brew, T Riley, A Smith (Capt), R Fussell; J Arlidge, W Evans; H Gustafson, S Jones, N Hall, A Jones, R Sidoli, D Lydiate, J Harris, J Bearman. Replacements: D Goodfield, A McKenzie, G Robinson, G Webb, H MacDonald, S Connor, D Lee.

Referee: Neil Paterson (SRU).

Last meetings: (08-09) Munster 50 Dragons 6; Dragons 9 Munster 20.

Forecast: Munster to win.