RUGBY:THOMOND PARK has often spooked visiting teams from almost the moment they step into the Munster citadel, and even though the Limerick venue and the city almost assumes a different persona on Heineken Cup days, familiarity through the Magners League makes the Ospreys more dangerous tomorrow.

Compare and contrast, say, to the first-day nerves when Toulon came to Thomond Park (or indeed Racing-Metro to the RDS). For the Ospreys, the rout in the quarter-finals here two years ago probably remains their most sour memory of recent times, establishing Munster as something of a Euro benchmark for them, and this was put to good effect when they won in the league at Thomond last season.

That was part of a three-game, week-long Irish tour which also took in a win over Ulster, and though they lost to Leinster, subsequently avenged that defeat in the Magners League Grand Final. Mentally, it was a very significant week for the Welsh region.

Even when the Ospreys lost here 22-10 last September in the third round of the League, one had the distinct impression that they were keeping their powder dry with this game in mind.

The Ospreys come into this game on the back of four successive wins. Granted, the loss of Shane Williams denies them much of their unexpected X Factor, but the loss of Lee Byrne is probably not as significant as it might have been before. His head and form appear to be all over the place, and Barry Davies has rediscovered a little of his old Scarlets’ sparkle. And on the plus side, Marty Holah has been cleared to play at openside.

It’s also instructive to note that the Ospreys have become quite handy at navigating their way through the pool stages, having reached the quarter-finals for each of the last three seasons from tough groups. Last season they outscored Biarritz by three tries to two and should have won a match they lost by 29-28 thanks to three drop goals by Damien Traille. By contrast, Biarritz put Munster to the sword much more handily three weeks later.

Further removing much of the fear factor is the absence of so many of the old Munster dogs of war up front; five of whom are missing from the starting pack compared to that quarter-final two years ago. In particular, the Opsreys’ strong Lions contingent waxed lyrically about the captaincy of Paul O’Connell and there’ll have been a collective sigh of relief in Swansea that he won’t be starting. Compared to the Munster side which beat Toulon in their last Euro outing, the return of Sam Tuitupou from suspension, Tomás O’Leary from injury and the preference of James Coughlan to Alan Quinlan are the only changes, while O’Connell is on the bench.

There are no massive surprises here, with the preference of O’Leary after his first game in almost two months against the Dragons two weeks ago over a rejuvenated Peter Stringer, entirely predictable. As the team’s former defensive coach, Tony McGahan has always had a preference for O’Leary’s greater physicality around the fringes and his superb cover tackling.

Munster haven’t been flowing like honey this season, but they have rediscovered some of their old mojo and winning ways. They dug deep into their reserves during the Test window, and that win over the Wallabies kept the good ship rolling.

Ultimately, it will be no surprise if these two back-to-back clashes have the biggest impact in deciding the outcome in Pool Three, with only one team likely to progress.

Perhaps the biggest change in the Ospreys’ make-up since that quarter-final has been the emergence of Dan Biggar’s game management and kicking game, thereby accommodating the gifts of James Hook at midfield.

But if the Munster set-pieces hold up and they generate quick ball you’d still rather no man other than Ronan O’Gara orchestrating things at Thomond Park. And the golden rule of the Heineken Cup remains, until proven otherwise, never back against Munster, least of all at Thomond Park.

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

OSPREYS: B Davies; T Bowe, A Bishop, J Hook, R Fussell; D Biggar, M Phillips; P James, R Hibbard, A Jones, R Jones, A Jones (capt), J Collins, M Holah, J Thomas. Replacements: M Davies, D Jones, C Mitchell, I Gough, J Tipuric, J Nutbrown, S Parker, N Walker.

Referee: Christophe Berdos (France).

Betting (Paddy Power): 2/9 Munster, 20/1 Draw, 3/1 Ospreys. Handicap odds (Ospreys + 8pts) 10/11 Munster, 22/1 Draw, 10/11 Ospreys.

Verdict: Munster to win.