Dolphin RFC are confident of preserving their recently attained Division-One status when the All-Ireland League committee hearing on the eligibility of hooker Andrew O'Driscoll is held tonight in Dublin's Berkeley Court hotel.
Last week, the committee, chaired by Finbar Crowley, rejected the Dublin University claim Galwegians fielded an unregistered player, Killian Finnane. The committee said the objection had not been lodged within the stipulated seven-day limit. As a result, Galwegians avoided the two-point deduction whereby Trinity would have stayed in Division One at their expense.
Dolphin will raise the same technicality tonight, claiming Young Munster questioned the eligibility of O'Driscoll 10 days after the last round of the AIL regular season on April 29th. Dolphin thus hope to avoid the points deduction that would see Young Munster leapfrog them into the second qualifying slot for Division One.
The appeal process could, however, run through the summer. Dublin University have already appealed on several grounds - about the details of which they were understandably reticent - and whichever club loses tonight is expected to do likewise.
With the Division-Two final indefinitely postponed, the IRFU are no longer under short-term time constraints. The AIL fixtures for next season will not be finalised until early autumn.
If O'Driscoll were deemed "illegal" in the context of Dolphin's win over Young Munster in the Division-Two play-off semi-final that game could be declared void. In theory, Young Munster would then qualify to play Terenure College in the Division-Two final, though Dolphin's promotion would be unaffected.
Meanwhile, Ireland under-21 coach Mark McDermott is expected to announce a 26-man World Cup squad today. The tournament takes place in the Auvergne, France. Ireland's opening game, against the hosts on June 9th, will be shown live on Sky Sports.
After a disappointing Six Nations, expectations are moderate. McDermott is not helped by the unavailability of the Ulster flanker Stephen Ferris, who requires a minor ankle operation, and the Leinster wing Robert Kearney, who is in the Ireland A squad for the Churchill Cup.
