In Pics: Preparations For Cardiff

Take a look at our training shots from Irish Independent Park and get the thoughts of second-row Billy Holland as Munster prepare to face Cardiff Blues in Round 14 of the Guinness PRO12 on Saturday night.

Following a two week lay-off from competitive action, Munster will hope to maintain their top-four position on the league table in the upcoming block of league matches, and reap the benefits of last week’s warm weather training camp in Lanzarote. A busy period of PRO12 games kicks off against Cardiff Blues on Valentines night – Munster’s first game at the redeveloped Irish Independent Park.

See preparations for Saturday’s game by clicking here.

Speaking after training yesterday, Billy Holland looked ahead to a return to league action.

“We’ll be looking for a big performance. We’ve had two weeks now without a game. We had a good result against Sale but had a disappointing spell before that. We trained hard over the last few weeks. We were in Lanzarote in training camp for 5 days, so absolutely we are looking for a big performance against Cardiff to get the ball rolling again.

“We are probably the only professional rugby team in the world split between two centres. Some of the younger guys from Limerick for example I wouldn’t know that well. Lanzarote was a great opportunity to chat and get to know them. From a rugby point of view you get to train more with guys. We were on the pitch four of the five days. Those camps are great from a morale and a social point of view.

“Cardiff have a good maul and they score a huge number of points, I think they have the highest number of defenders beaten in the PRO12. They were 40 points down against Wasps a few weeks ago and ended up winning. They throw the ball around a lot, they offload a lot so they are a difficult team to defend against in that regard.”

The Cork-man, who recently won his 100th Munster cap, is also looking forward to playing in his native city at a newly redeveloped venue.

“From a Cork point of view, and I’m probably a little bit biased, we want games down here. It’s a fantastic pitch. It’s probably the best surface in the country. The new stand is fantastic. I was at the Ireland Wolfhounds game two weeks ago and there was a fantastic atmosphere. Hopefully we will get a really good crowd and the better the crowds, the more games we get here. Hopefully they will see some good rugby.”

Munster v Cardiff Blues, Guinness PRO12 Round 14, Saturday February 14th at Irish Independent Park – KO: 7:35pm.

Tickets from just €;15 can be purchased online by clicking here, while the Ireland v France 6 Nations game will be televised on the big screen before kick-off so you won't miss a second of the action – both international and provincial!