We’ll Give It Our Best Shot – Alan Quinlan

Alan Quinlan has been in outstanding form for Munster since returning to the side for the semi-final clash with Castres in Beziers. His performance in that game and subsequently against Ulster earned him a place on this tour, his first visit Down Under. For 25 minutes of the tour opener he was again particularly prominent until injury forced him to retire.in the 25th minute after taking a knock to his knee.

Gary Longwell fell on the side of my knee and at the time I was afraid it was serious, but as it turned out it’s not as bad as I first thought. I have strained medial ligaments, and a little bit of bone bruising which is going to lay me up for a few days but the medical team are now telling that I could be available for the bench at the weekend.

I was enjoying the game against, it was a tough game. They were very physical, strong in the first-up tackle, but when we moved the ball around a bit I think we caught them for fitness. When we put a few phases together they struggled and when we got width in our game we scored a few good tries and that was a very pleasing aspect of the match.

It’s going to be a huge step up on Saturday but it was important that we put up a good score in the game last weekend, get a bit of confidence. We knew the first game wouldn’t compare with the Test game but we also realised we had to get a good performance in, get a few combinations together. Basically just get a game under our belt, get a bit of physical contact and it all went well for the team.

Others can claim what they want but we’d regard the All Blacks as the best team in the world. They’re the ones we all aspire to be like so it’s a massive test for everybody involved, not just the 22 on the field but everyone in the whole set up.

So far it’s been a very enjoyable trip, It’s my first time here. When we met in Wicklow, I found the going very tough, having to meet up so soon after the European Cup final. It really was tough going, I must say. But that has stood to us now, the way that we took the challenge head on, we helped each other along. We worked really hard and I think it definitely has helped us.

There’s a good buzz in the camp. There’s a good bunch of guys here and everyone has worked really hard to get on with each other and it’s very enjoyable and we’re all looking forward to it. You only get opportunities like this maybe once in a lifetime. It’s a daunting task but we’ve made up our minds that we are going to give it our best shot.