St Mary's College coach Brent Pope must wonder if the fates have conspired against him to guarantee that the club do not retain their AIB League Division One title this season. Having survived the early part of the league campaign on a skeleton staff because of sundry injuries, Mary's appeared to have hauled themselves back to the fringes of the play-off scramble with victories over Cork Constitution and Shannon.

However a legacy from the Rest of Ireland match against Munster threatens to scupper Pope's ambitions. Number eight and captain Victor Costello was initially diagnosed to have fractured a finger but Pope has subsequently learned that the damage could be worse. "As far as I know at this stage, it appears that he has broken something in his hand. The upshot is that he seems certain to be out for at least a month. It's a huge blow because Victor is worth two players."

Costello's misfortune arrives on foot of news that centre Gareth Gannon will also be sidelined for a month having injured his knee in the match against Shannon. Emmet Byrne is already out for the season, fellow prop Peter Coyle is unlikely to return and Malcolm O'Kelly won't figure against Belfast Harlequins on Tuesday.