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Dowling - Munster must build on bonus point win
MUNSTER winger Ian Dowling believes it is crucial Tony McGahan's men build on their bonus-point win over Aironi Rugby by securing a follow-up victory in Edinburgh this Friday night (7.05pm).
The defeats suffered by Magners League finalists, Leinster and the Ospreys, in their opening round fixtures away from home at the weekend highlighted how difficult victories on the road are to secure in the highly competitive competition.
Munster will be hoping to avenge their frustrating defeat suffered at the hands of Edinburgh at Murrayfield last season when Tony McGahan's men make the trip to Scotland.
Dowling, who is quickly closing in on his 100th appearance for Munster said: "With Edinburgh on Friday, we were a bit disappointed with our away form last season. One of our targets this year was to score a lot more away from home and come away with a lot more 'Ws' rather than losses. We were targetting that game. We will prepare for the game from Monday.
"When you go away from home you don't expect to get anything easy, especially with the Magners League getting so much more competitive. I wouldn't expect anything else.
"The league cannot be won at the start of the season, but you can lose it. A lot of teams are building up gradually through these first couple of games.
"There are bound to be a certain amount of uncharacteristic errors.
"Trying to eradicate them as soon as you can should be the goal.
"For me personally, I am hoping to stay fit, keep my head down and get stuck in. I suppose hold onto this jersey for as long as I can."
A brace of tries from flanker Niall Ronan helped Munster secure a 33-17 opening day victory over competition newcomers Aironi at Musgrave Park on Friday night.
The exciting Felix Jones marked his first competitive start for the province since St. Stephen's Day last year with a try while impressive prop Tony Buckley also crossed the whitewash.
Twenty-seven-year-old Dowling has welcomed the addition of the Italian sides to the league this season.
"It is great for the competition that the Italian sides have come on board. It is a great boost," Dowling enthused.
"They are a very competitive, physical side. We expected that. If you look at their front five, they are all internationals. Then you have the scrum-half as well and Mercier at ten.
"We were tied at 11-11 at half time. To be honest, I don't think we changed a whole lot in the second half.
"We were doing a whole lot of good stuff. It was just our execution of certain things, spilling the ball over and giving them the ball back.
"That made life difficult for ourselves. In the second half we played with a bit more composure. We wanted to put them through the phases. We were trying to play the game at a fairly quick tempo."
Munster will welcome back several seasoned internationals into the squad for the trip to Edinburgh which will add to Tony McGahan's selection options.
Coach McGahan said: "At this stage, the rest of the international contingent is available to be selected for the Edinburgh game and play some time off the bench. We will just have to see how everyone pulls up this week. At this stage they are all ready to play."
Meanwhile on the club front Shannon recorded a thrilling 23-21 victory over Bruff in their Limerick Charity Cup semi-final meeting at Coonagh on Saturday.
A last gasp drop goal from the boot of John Clogan helped Colm Tucker's side advance to the decider.
Shannon will now face the winners of the second semi-final featuring Young Munster and Garryowen at Tom Clifford Park on Saturday next (1.30pm).
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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