DAVE KILCOYNE’S PRE-SEASON lasted a week or two longer than he would have liked but he has managed to find a few positives.
After he felt a twinge in his hamstring last week, Munster decided to take no chances and rested the big prop for the trip to Treviso.
There were no further complications though and Kilcoyne is in contention to start against Zebre on Friday night.
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Watching the opening games of the new season from the sideline was tough and in Kilcoyne’s own words, he’s “raring to go.”
The time wasn’t wasted though. The summer months were an opportunity to get plenty of live scrummaging practice under his belt and also to familiarise himself with the new set-piece laws again.
“[The scrum] is more of a mental battle now,” Kilcoyne explained after training in the University of Limerick yesterday.
“Sometimes you get the ball stuck in there and it’s really a patience game.
You’re waiting for the first team to make a mistake rather than attacking all the time so it can be a game of patience.
“The mentally stronger team can come out on top. It’s not all just brute force.”
There’s a case to be made too for swotting up the referee’s preferences before a game.
“Every ref is human and they’re open to different interpretations,” he added.
It’s about doing your analysis and trying to paint the best picture possible that the ref is used to seeing.
Kilcoyne: Long pre-season was a chance to work on scrum 'mental battle'
DAVE KILCOYNE’S PRE-SEASON lasted a week or two longer than he would have liked but he has managed to find a few positives.
After he felt a twinge in his hamstring last week, Munster decided to take no chances and rested the big prop for the trip to Treviso.
There were no further complications though and Kilcoyne is in contention to start against Zebre on Friday night.
Watching the opening games of the new season from the sideline was tough and in Kilcoyne’s own words, he’s “raring to go.”
The time wasn’t wasted though. The summer months were an opportunity to get plenty of live scrummaging practice under his belt and also to familiarise himself with the new set-piece laws again.
“[The scrum] is more of a mental battle now,” Kilcoyne explained after training in the University of Limerick yesterday.
“Sometimes you get the ball stuck in there and it’s really a patience game.
“The mentally stronger team can come out on top. It’s not all just brute force.”
There’s a case to be made too for swotting up the referee’s preferences before a game.
“Every ref is human and they’re open to different interpretations,” he added.
– Audio courtesy of Limerick’s Live 95FM
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Guinness PRO12 dave kilcoyne In the Head Munster Zebre