Munster aim to go one better as they stand in the way of Toulon double
Toulon are a fusion of international cuisine while Munster are an Irish stew with a sprinkling of foreign spices. The starting lineup of the Top 14 leaders in Marseille on Sunday will be made up of seven different nationalities (only the prop Xavier Chiocci was born in Toulon), while Munster will field 12 Irishmen with one of the three exceptions, the South African back-rower CJ Stander, qualifying to play for Ireland next year.
Four French internationals (and the second row Jocelino Suta was born in Vanuatu) will start for Toulon. South Africans make up the same number but one of them, the wing Bryan Habana, who has returned to full fitness after spending half the season out of action because of tendinitis, says the motivation of those who have come in from various parts of the world to join the club is not to impress their bank managers.
"This club is based on a strong work ethic," said Habana, South Africa's record try scorer. "Players have come here to win trophies and be successful. The competition for places is so strong that you have to give everything. It gives us a collective will to succeed. Winning the Heineken Cup last season was special for Toulon and to go one better this year and record the double would be amazing, but at this stage of the season you can only go from week to week and we know how difficult Munster will be to beat."
Toulon are in their best form of the season, winning seven of their last eight matches in the Top 14 and defeating Leinster in the Heineken Cup quarter-final at Stade Mayol this month with a surprising degree of comfort when they minimised the early loss through injury of Jonny Wilkinson. The outside-half, who is expected to retire at the end of the season, returns for the semi-final at the Vélodrome: Habana for David Smith is the only change from the side that started the 29-14 victory over the 2011 and 2012 European champions.
O'Connell, the only survivor from Munster's starting lineup when they last won the tournament six years ago, defeating Toulouse in Cardiff, the city that will stage next month's final, felt that the semi-final was out of reach when they lost their opening pool game against Edinburgh last October, but they also fell in their openers in the two years they won the tournament, 2006 and 2008.
"I did not think we would be at this stage after Edinburgh," said O'Connell. "Teams seem to get better each year in this tournament and the only time I played against Toulon before [2011] we were well beaten. They are a stronger side now and it is an uphill task for us. It is like the feeling you get in the week you play New Zealand: you know how good you will have to be to have a chance of winning."
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