MUNSTER COACH Tony McGahan has refused to be drawn on his own future with the province but said that Paul O’Connell’s contract extension was a big boost to the side and Ireland.
The Australian, who has overseen the introduction of a host of young players over the past year, declined to talk about his own future.
“No comment at this stage. At this stage I’m concentrating on Heineken Cup and that’s my only desire,” he said.
But McGahan spoke of his admiration for O’Connell. “It is absolutely fantastic for Munster to have our captain recommit for a further two years; it’s tremendous for the club,” said McGahan.
“He is fantastic. The most important thing is to be able to do your own job and provide action that others can follow. Paul leads by actions and words.
“He speaks common sense and his actions show what he’s talking about,” said McGahan.
Following a difficult season last year after Munster’s early exit from the Heineken Cup and with a World Cup campaign to worry about, McGahan was thrilled to have O’Connell back fit and hungry for action.
“This year the way he has played and dragged us through the first four games was excellent. He sets an example to younger players. He’s also challenging himself to improve. He challenges coaches, fitness staff and medical staff. We’re fortunate to have someone of his ilk in the squad.
“His gap through injury means he won’t take anything for granted. And he’s thrown himself into his rugby; he’s in a very good place at this time. He is playing as well as ever, as is evident in the Heineken Cup. His carrying and contact areas have improved. His work and desire to improve other aspects of his game are phenomenal. There’s certainly evidence he’s improving his game.”
Traditionally the New Year and period around the Six Nations Championship is the time for discussing contracts. But the province’s long-term planning has been disrupted because of uncertainty surrounding the new IRFU policy on non-Irish qualified players, says McGahan.
“It will cause us to change,” he said. “Details have put a whole different complexion across overseas, academy . . . it has a knock-on effect all the way down. How we balance that: there’s so much uncertainty and where that leads is unclear.
“The issue for us is that it was put out there and hanging and it’s up to provinces to make sense of it and come back with solutions. It is not an ideal way to do things.”
As a result the provinces will have to join forces to try and work out the finer details, he said: “We’ll get together to have a discussion because it affects us all. It’s been in the pipeline, but there could have been clarity and planning. We’re still in the dark to be honest.
“The biggest thing for me is that these positions aren’t one- or two-year plans – they’re five- six-year plans. We’re in the professional game so you have to look down the track to make sure you have plans in place. . . .”
After missing out on last week’s defeat to Ulster, Donnacha Ryan, O’Connell, Donncha O’Callaghan, Keith Earls, Ronan O’Gara and Conor Murray are all free to face Treviso, while Peter O’Mahony has also recovered sufficiently from a jaw injury be included.
Denis Leamy, who is heading today to see a specialist in London about a troublesome hip injury which has been bothering him for six months or more, is again unavailable. McGahan also said that hooker Jerry Flannery is making progress but no date has yet been set for his return.
MUNSTER SQUAD: (v Benetton Treviso): M Horan, S Archer, J Ryan, W du Preez, BJ Botha, D Varley, D Fogarty, D Ryan, P O'Connell, D O'Callaghan, I Nagle, M O'Driscoll, P O'Mahony, N Ronan, B Holland, D O'Callaghan, P Butler, J Coughlan; D Hurley, J Murphy, W Chambers, D Barnes, K Earls, L Mafi, S Zebo, I Keatley, R O'Gara, D Williams, C Murray, T O'Leary.
