Munster are the only province to reveal their hand so far in advance of this weekend's opening games in the Interprovincial Championship. Mick Galwey will lead an imposing side containing seven internationals for their initial assignment against Connacht in the Sportsground on Saturday.
"What we're trying to establish is consistency of selection, and effectively it's the team that finished last season," said Munster team manager Jerry Holland yesterday. True to their word, Munster have retained all but two of the side which finished last season's campaign with that memorable 23-16 win over Harlequins at Thomond Park on October 12th.
The exceptions are at left wing and wing-forward, where Anthony Horgan comes in for John Kelly and Ultan O'Callaghan replaces the injured Alan Quinlan.
Quinlan was not considered because of a back injury, the extent of which will be known only after the results of a scan taken yesterday. Also not yet in consideration is the prodigal Dave Corkery, who recently suffered a back injury.
It is a measure of Munster's back-row strength in depth, the envy of any other province, that David Wallace is on the bench and the Shannon flyer, Colm McMahon, will be in the Munster A team to play Morocco in Cork on Tuesday.
Like Wallace, two other members of the Irish squad which toured South Africa, props Des Clohessy and John Hayes, are also on the bench, alongside the promising half-back pair of Tom Tierney and Ronan O'Gara.
"We're trying to create a situation whereby these guys earn their selection in the team," said Holland. "For Dessie Clohessy and John Hayes, this is only their second season of playing in the front-row. They had a tremendous experience in South Africa. They have a big future, but it's still early days for them yet."
Ten of the side which began last season's campaign with a 29-9 win over Connacht will be in the starting line-up a year on. "It's never easy there," said Holland. "We've no hang-ups about playing them, but they're well capable of winning the game."
Connacht will reveal their opening hand tomorrow, with coach Glenn Ross yesterday confirming that Conor McGuinness is liable to be out for several more weeks after a foot operation, although Eric Elwood's recovery from a shoulder injury has been encouraging.
Leinster and Ulster, too, will today unveil their sides for the competition opener at Donnybrook on Friday evening. Leinster will be without the injured Ciaran Clarke, Denis Hickie and Reggie Corrigan, and will also be naming a new captain in the light of Kurt McQuilkin's decision not to make himself available this season due to personal reasons. Several contenders were considered, but the whisper is that Gabriel Fulcher has been given the nod.
Ulster's selection, meanwhile, will probably fall along similar lines to the line-up which easily accounted for the moderate Moroccans on Monday night, after which no casualties were reported.
Off the pitch, Munster have announced a new sponsor for the team, Bank of Ireland, for the next three seasons.
In a new initiative, the Irish management have issued an open invitation to watch the senior international squad in action during new training camps this season - the first of which will take place on September 22nd.
There will be three-day training camps in Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Dublin, with one day open to the public. Warren Gatland explained: "We want people to come along and watch us in action, so they will learn and understand what we are trying to achieve."
Irish centre Kevin Maggs, one of the big successes of the South African tour, has left Bristol and joined west country neighbours Bath. It's a risky enough move in terms of his international prospects, for Maggs will be less assured of a starting place with the European Cup holders.
