Edwards flies in priest who turned Wasps into winners

The former rugby league superstar and the Irish priest, whose association began with a chance meeting at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, joined forces again yesterday in readiness for the match of the Heineken Cup's opening round — the champions' tie against their immediate predecessors Munster at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry this afternoon. It already sounds like a partnership made in heaven.

Far from merely attending the match as the head coach's guest, Father John O'Brien flew over on Thursday, stayed at the team hotel last night and will be at the players' disposal in the dressing room prematch before watching it unfold from the technical area.

'I suppose I'm part of the furniture by now,' he said. 'You could describe me as a sort of spiritual directorcum- mascot.'

Wasps swear his calming presence during the hours before last season's staggering European Cup Final against Leicester contributed to their success, inspiring fly half Alex King to a pivotal role in their destruction of the odds - on favourites.

Edwards said: 'Alex always used to find it comforting to have him there.

He was a bit worried before the final last season because he hadn't played for some weeks. He was worried about his goal - kicking as well, and so before the kick-off he said to Father John: "Would you mind saying a prayer for me?"

'He got his rosary beads and gave Alex a little message which really worked wonders. "Kingy" was brilliant that day in everything he did.

Father John is very quiet in the dressing room but the players all know he's there if any of them need him.

'I met him in Jerusalem when I took my mum on a pilgrimage eight years ago. We hit it off, talking about sport and we kept in touch.

He's an author who specialises in spirituality and helping people to overcome tragedies, depression and things like that. That's his passion in life.

'He has helped me in that respect. He has the gift of healing which makes him a very special person.

And he's Wasps through and through. For the big games, he's almost part of the squad. At the Heineken final he sat on the bench with the coaches. He goes into the changing rooms because the players want him to be there.'

England captain Phil Vickery regards him as a 'lucky omen'.

Edwards added: 'Vicks once said to me: "If money's ever a problem, we'll have a whip-round and make sure Father John is here". They love him being around because he's such a likeable person.'

As Wasps geared themselves up for a match they dare not lose, Father O'Brien cut an incongruous figure en route from his native Galway to London. 'Of all the people flying out of Shannon Airport for the big match, I would have been the only one wearing a Wasps' jacket,' he said.

'I'm from Connacht but I was stationed in Cork for six years and I found the Munster people there wonderful. It's just that Wasps are now part of my life.

'If you ask me what I do, I couldn't quantify it. Shaun and myself have been through a lot. Sometimes Shaun will say: "So and so isn't too good, would you have a word?" The dressing room tends to be a very quiet place before kick-off. People are tensing themselves up, some going round punching themselves.

'Players like big Lawrence Dallaglio are part of my life. They have told me the stories of their lives and asked me at various times to pray for sick children or for relatives who haven't been well, or perhaps to help them over a bereavement. It's just a case of being there for them, of loving them I suppose. It's a word all of us men find hard to let out.

'At one stage during the final last season I was saying my rosary, Shaun was reading about existentialism, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, Tim Payne had his head in his hands, Craig Dowd was staring at the video and Ian McGeechan was chewing his nails.

As Fiona Hackett, the club's press officer, said at the time: "What a sight!" '

If Wasps-Munster today is half as good as their last meeting, the England captain Phil Vickery regards him as a 'lucky omen'.

Edwards added: 'Vicks once said to me: "If money's ever a problem, we'll have a whip-round and make sure Father John is here". They love him being around because he's such a likeable person.'

As Wasps geared themselves up for a match they dare not lose, Father O'Brien cut an incongruous figure en route from his native Galway to London. 'Of all the people flying out of Shannon Airport for the big match, I would have been the only one wearing a Wasps' jacket,' he said.

'I'm from Connacht but I was stationed in Cork for six years and I found the Munster people there wonderful. It's just that Wasps are now part of my life.

'If you ask me what I do, I couldn't quantify it. Shaun and myself have been through a lot. Sometimes Shaun will say: "So and so isn't too good, would you have a word?" The dressing room tends to be a very quiet place before kick-off. People are tensing themselves up, some going round punching themselves.

'Players like big Lawrence Dallaglio are part of my life. They have told me the stories of their lives and asked me at various times to pray for sick children or for relatives who haven't been well, or perhaps to help them over a bereavement. It's just a case of being there for them, of loving them I suppose. It's a word all of us men find hard to let out.

'At one stage during the final last season I was saying my rosary, Shaun was reading about existentialism, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, Tim Payne had his head in his hands, Craig Dowd was staring at the video and Ian McGeechan was chewing his nails.

As Fiona Hackett, the club's press officer, said at the time: "What a sight!" '

If Wasps-Munster today is half as good as their last meeting, the holders' enterprising decision to sacrifice home advantage in search of a wider public will guarantee the fans a rare treat. Their semi-final at Lansdowne Road in April 2004, won 34-30 by Wasps, was probably the greatest non-Test match of the professional era.

'That last game was so sensational you wouldn't want to miss this one,' said Edwards. 'Only one team, Leicester, have ever retained this trophy and only one team, Toulouse, have won it three times.

'We're not the biggest club in the world and for us to be even talking of the possibility of something like that reflects great credit on the players and everyone involved.'

Wasps pick Danny Cipriani at fly half, England's next big back row star, James Haskell, at blindside and Nick Adams at tighthead for the injured Vickery. Dallaglio will captain from his usual station at No 8.

Munster, knocked out at Llanelli in the quarter-finals last season, will be led by Ronan O'Gara in the absence of Paul O'Connell, still troubled by a damaged disc.

Shaun Edwards is to have talks about forming a Test reunion with Warren Gatland as part of his new Wales regime.

The pair led Wasps to three successive Premiership titles and a European Cup win. Edwards said: 'He wants to speak to me over the next few weeks. I'll have to wait to see what he's thinking.

'I'd look at it with an open mind, which is not to say I'd definitely do it.'