Team boss Declan Kidney will reveal his "beat the bug" strategy to his anxious Munster players tomorrow.

And that's just about as soon as he will have a clear picture of just how badly the foot and mouth epidemic is likely to affect the "Red Army's" ambition to win the Heineken European Cup.

"At the moment it's a matter of taking things day by day and waiting to see what will evolve " he told me "its frustrating for me, for the fans but mostly for the players and unfortunately it has created a new kind of pressure, one we will just have to learn how to handle and learn quickly."

And Kidney, the soft spoken former teacher and career guidance officer knows only too well the difficulty of maintaining the mental, physical and social well being of a thirty six strong squad who are bursting for action.

"We can do so much in the gym like maintaining fitness levels and basic handling skills but nothing can substitute doing these things under pressure out on the pitch like getting ready to take and make a pass with the likes of John Hayes bearing down on you" he grinned.

"And of course the whatever decision is made about the Ireland v England game will greatly affect us and our fragmented preparations for the Euro Semi Final against Stade Francais in Lille " he added.

"And don't forget that the French lads have been playing competitive rugby non stop, picking up their domestic programme immediately after the Italy v Ireland game in which quite a lot of them played a month ago. All these things combine to build that new kind of pressure on the players." But Kidney is happy that he has a well adjusted squad who will come out of the present crisis stronger for having gone through the experience.

"There is also the social side of the players life to be considered", Kidney explained "how they manage their time with their families, how they handle their studies if that's appropriate, all these factors come into play in the normal course of events but even more so under the present conditions."

For the moment Munster's forces are divided between Cork and Limerick with the facilities at the Limerick University and the Cork Institute of Technology being used twice a day. But Kidney would be the first to acknowledge that the Munster machine is currently just ticking over. "The mental uncertainty and our inability to go out on the pitches much less play games will inevitably take its toll but hopefully the picture will be much clearer by next Monday", he told me.

Now in his third year as Munster supremo, all Kidney's managerial skills are being put to the test right now as the Government tries to stifle the threat of a possible outbreak which could devastate the economy as well as bringing sports activities to a grinding halt.

"Of course its frustrating for all the sports but at t he moment horse racing and rugby are the high profile ones, not that that makes it any easier to handle" said Declan "so for the moment all we can do it take it day by day and hope that each day will bring better news. We can't wait for the green light to get out on the pitches again."

There is no substitute for the satisfying thwack of boot on ball, hurley on sliothar or in rugby's case the thud of a well timed tackle and the subsequent action. Players can pump iron in the gym, can throw the ball around for as long as they like and will all sorts of variations to help dilute the numbing boredom of repetition. But there is no substitute for flat out action. As a school teacher and rugby coach, Kidney knows this all too well.

Keeping young students attentive and interested is difficult at the best of times, so its not difficult to imagine Kidney's difficulty with a big squad which is split between two centres. But the quietly spoken Cork man has a lid on things and has been beavering away to make sure that at every level the Munster squad's interest, fitness level and awareness of the job in hand is kept simmering away, ready to explode into action in Lille on April 21 next.

"It's a new and unfortunate situation for us all and we are doing our best to handle it "said Kidney "its not easy for the support staff, its not easy for the fans but it's hell for the players, they train for action , they thrive on action so their frustration is easy to understand. However there are a lot of people besides myself working to get them through this crisis as painlessly as possible. Munster skipper Mick Galwey described the drawn as "tough."

"It's going to be hard to go to Lille and play the most side left in the competition but we were in the same position a year ago when we want to Bordeaux to play Toulouse. But in the present circumstances n think we would fly out to morrow to take them on " he added " but we will just have to be patient and work away to be ready for the big day."

Munster have only played Stade Francais once and that was last April in Thomond Park when the red devils won 27 - 10 in the Heineken Cup quarter Final. Of course there was no happy ending to that story, Northampton saw to that. "Being beaten in a European Cup Final teaches you some hard lessons," Kidney conceded, "and I think those we learned from that defeat by Northampton will stand to us in the present crisis."

Time will tell but for the moment Declan Kidney and his backroom team can do no more than keep Munster just below their peak, ready to explode into semi final action when the call comes.

But keeping the lid on his squad may be Kidney's most difficult task in the immediate future.

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© Tom Keogh 2000

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