JOE picks out three things to watch in the Magners League games involving the Irish provinces and the Irish players this weekend.

By Conor Heneghan

The Munster half-back combination

Munster have selected an extremely strong side for this weekend’s encounter with Benetton Treviso with only Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell, Tomas O’Leary and Keith Earls – who all started against France last Sunday - of their Irish contingent given a rest. Because of that, Peter Stringer and Ronan O’Gara will start at half back, a combination that represented Ireland with distinction for most of the last decade and that many people believe should be Ireland’s half-back combination for the rest of the Six Nations.

O’Gara has certainly impressed with two outstanding cameos against Italy and France so far and although Jonathan Sexton has done nothing wrong so far, O’Gara’s form, his ability to vary the gameplan and his ice-cool temperament have led to calls for him to be reinstated in the number ten jersey.

It is also generally accepted that although Tomas O’Leary scored a try against the French, that his delivery was far too laboured and that Ireland would be far better served by Stringer or Eoin Reddan, who, although not as physical as O’Leary, are far snappier in their distribution. Stringer has not even made the bench for the first two Six Nations encounters, but Declan Kidney will have a close eye on how the pair perform against Edinburgh on Friday evening with Sunday week’s clash with Scotland in mind.

Tommy Bowe’s return for the Ospreys

The Monaghan man and multiple award winner last year has been given the all-clear to play for the Ospreys against Benetton Treviso and if he comes through that with no last-minute hitches, then he should be ready for Ireland’s clash with Scotland next weekend.

Bowe’s reintroduction to the Irish set-up is timely as although Fergus McFadden and Keith Earls have done fine in his absence. Bowe’s pace, dynamism and finishing ability have been badly missed. In fairness, there isn’t a side in the competition who wouldn’t have lamented the absence of probably the finest winger in Europe, but given that Ireland are woefully short of back three options at the moment, Bowe’s loss has been particularly keenly felt.

Tommy Bowe, who returns to action with the Ospreys this weekend, has been sorely missed in the Six Nations so far

McFadden started the game against France excellently and Earls did well to fashion a chance for a try late on, but otherwise, the two wings were fairly muted last Sunday. As Bowe’s status in the current Irish side has increased, so has his sense of responsibility and what was evident in the last couple of years was his appetite to look for work if he was isolated out on the wing. Thankfully for Ireland, Bowe is not the most injury prone of players and he should go on to play a crucial role in the rest of the Six Nations and the World Cup later this year.

A chance for Connacht to move on up

There was finally some relief for Connacht supporters last weekend as Eric Elwood’s side defeated the Scarlets and claimed their first Magners League win since September in the process. After a fantastic start to the campaign, Connacht’ season has been a downward spiral since, with their failure to qualify for the knockout stages of the Amlin Challenge Cup adding to their Magners League woes.

News of the impending departures of Sean Cronin, Ian Keatley, Jamie Hagan and the likelihood of Fionn Carr also moving on has been a blow, but Elwood has already lined up a host of replacements including promising Ulster duo Niall O’Connor and Mark McCrea, and Matthew Jarvis and James Loxton from the Ospreys. Also, with Leinster, Ulster and Munster all still in European competition, there is still a chance that Connacht could be playing Heineken Cup rugby next season, so there’s plenty to look forward to in the season ahead.

Despite all their poor form in the Magners League, they are level on points with Friday night’s opposition, Glasgow Warriors. A win would push them ahead of the Scottish side and within touching distance of the likes of Dragons, Edinburgh and Treviso and towards mid-table respectability, which is not ground breaking by any means but would be a continuation of the progress that the province has made in the last number of seasons.