European Cup, Munster v Biarritz: If Brian Lima does turn out to be the coup of the season, then Alan Quinlan will be looking for his cut.
It was the Munster and Irish flanker who was sitting at home watching Lima cut a swathe through the Northern Hemisphere's defensive line in the recent tsunami match at Twickenham when the thought occurred to him the Samoan legend might make a handy addition for the Heineken European Cup knock-out stages.
Christian Cullen having been sidelined, Quinlan rang his coach Alan Gaffney and suggested Lima might be worth contacting. "That's a bloody good idea," Gaffney responded. Lima proved difficult to track down, but eventually Munster did so through Trevor Brennan's French agent, and the 32-year-old centre-cum-winger was unattached after his most recent stint in Japan with the Secom club side.
"As anybody could see from the tsunami match, however, he's kept himself in pretty good nick on the sevens circuit recently," observes Gaffney, although somewhat typical of their luck lately - which has seen Ronan O'Gara and Denis Leamy join Cullen on the casualty list - Lima suffered a strained quodricep in his second session with his new team-mates yesterday.
"We've been treating him with kid gloves to be honest and his strain could be something to do with fatigue as he only arrived here last Friday," commented the Munster coach yesterday. "We only did a one hour and 20 minute session today and yesterday's (Monday's) was one hour and a quarter given the hard pitch at the UL."
Gaffney is nonetheless hopeful and optimistic Lima will be able to face Biarritz in San Sebastian on Sunday, and all the indications are that Munster will throw him straight from the start.
"With a guy of that quality and experience, we haven't needed to spend a lot of time on plays and so forth, but we need to take on Biarritz and he fits the bill. He has just fitted in seamlessly. He's very quiet, like most Samoans. He brings a lot of experience given he's played in four World Cups. Everybody knows how he tackles and he picks a good line. If Brian is what we're looking for, and we're hoping he will be fit, then there's every chance of him starting."
It makes utter sense, for as Gaffney adds: "We only get one shot at this. It might be a kick in the stomach for someone else but if we've got to take a punt on the guy then so be it. It'll be my decision," he said.
The coach named a squad of 26 yesterday and will finalise his starting line-up tomorrow or on Friday morning prior to departure to Spain.
If Lima is to start, then the likelihood is his potent lines of running and tackling will be used closer to the action, ie centre, rather than on the wing, perhaps in partnership with Rob Henderson as opposed to Jason Holland or Mike Mullins, given the need to take on Biarritz with as much dynamic ball carrying as possible.
In that scenario, Shaun Payne would remain at fullback and Anthony Horgan and John Kelly on the wings, with Paul Burke partnering Peter Stringer at half-back. The tight five picks itself - Marcus Horan, Frankie Sheahan, John Hayes, Donncha O'Callaghan and Paul O'Connell - while in the absence of Leamy, the backrow is liable to feature Quinlan, Anthony Foley and David Wallace, with Jim Williams on the bench.
Lima holds the record for most consecutive appearances in World Cup games, having made his debut in the 1991 debut at the age of 18. Amongst his 60 Test caps, he has played all 16 of Samoa's matches through to the 2003 finals, scoring 10 tries.
He has had a typically nomadic career for a Samoan, enjoying prolific spells with the Otago Highlanders and the Auckland Blues, with whom he won the Super 12s back in 1996/'97. Lima has played in the European Cup alongside Payne before, during an injury-blighted year at Swansea, after which he spent two seasons with Stade Francais. He was on the losing side against Munster in the 2000 quarter-final at Thomond Park, and missed the Lille semi-final the following season when Stade won through to the final.
Having made his name as a winger, latterly Lima has become more of a centre. Long since known as "The Chiropractor" for his spine-tingling big hits, his Samoan coach John Boe once commented that his moniker "is for a very good reason. He moves peoples' bones around and he provides a lot of solidity in midfield."
His performance in the tsunami match showed his commitment remains undimmed, and he says he was "really happy to accept the offer to play with Munster. The only difficulty was I had been away from my family for a long period and would be leaving again.
"Munster are a side of course, I was aware of and knew they were always up at the top level in the Heineken Cup, always making the knock-outs in recent years. I played in Thomond Park many years ago and remember their passionate supporters who get right behind their team. So yes I remember them well.
"They won that day (in Thomond) and then they lost the semi-final to us although I didn't play that day and it was a very close result."
Contracted to the end of the season, Lima would consider an extension if approached.
"It is something I would have first to sit down with my wife to discuss, but yes it is something I would consider if everything went well."
MUNSTER SQUAD - Backs (11): Paul Burke, Paul Devlin, Jason Holland, Rob Henderson, Anthony Horgan, John Kelly, Brian Lima, Mike Mullins, Frank Murphy, Shaun Payne, Peter Stringer. Forwards (15): Tom Bowman, Anthony Foley, Jerry Flannery, Marcus Horan, John Hayes, Trevor Hogan, Stephen Keogh, Gordon McIlwham, Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell, Alan Quinlan, Frank Roche, Frankie Sheahan, Jim Williams, David Wallace.
