In Pics: Munster Train In UL

25th November 2014 By Munster Rugby

See the action shots and get the thoughts of Assistant Coach Ian Costello as Munster prepare for their first home interprovincial of the season – against Ulster this Friday night at Thomond Park, KO 7:35pm.

With returning internationals being integrated back into training this week, Munster Assistant Coach Ian Costello looks ahead to a busy period for the province in which player management is key.

“With some players coming back in this weekend the competition for places is healthy and it means that we can spread the workload across the squad a little bit more in what is an incredibly busy period.

“You go from Ulster to Clermont (home and away) to Glasgow, Leinster and Connacht – it doesn’t get much bigger than that, so it’s essential that we have 25 to 30 guys operating at a really high standard.

“There’s a national player management programme which we follow and with six really big games coming up we have to get the balance right – getting it right in terms of who comes back in this week, who needs rest, who is fresh and ready to feature either this weekend or the following weekend.

“We’re in a healthy place at the moment. We’ve got a lot of guys in the squad who are playing really well and we’ve got a lot of confidence in them. That puts us in a good position to make the best decision possible when we know who is available.”

Despite the impending return to European Champions Cup action on Saturday week against Clermont Auvergne, this week, sights are firmly set on a performance and result against Ulster at Thomond Park.

“Last week and this week are about cementing our league position – going to Dragons last weekend and getting a result, other results went our way which is fantastic, and now we have a chance to beat a team that are one place ahead of us on the table. It’s good to have that in your own hands and then Ospreys have to go to Leinster as well which is another difficult fixture for them.

“We’ll just look after what we can look after this weekend and hopefully it puts us in a better league position.”