RUBGY NEWS:JERRY FLANNERY could face a disciplinary hearing as early as tomorrow in Dublin after the Ireland hooker was cited for kicking French winger Alexis Palisson last Saturday at the Stade de France.
Charged in contravention of law 10.4 (c), kicking not tripping, the Six Nations disciplinary committee is chaired by Prof Lorne Crear, from Scotland, who will form a three-man committee today.
Should Flannery be found guilty, his suspension would be at least four weeks. A mid-range penalty is eight weeks, with a high-end ban starting at 12 weeks.
The minimum suspension would still rule Flannery out of the England game at Twickenham on February 27th and the Wales match at Croke Park on March 13th. He could return for the final game at home to Scotland on March 20th.
The incident, in the 23rd minute, forced Palisson off injured. The winger had snaffled possession from David Wallace, only to collide with Flannery, who mistimed an attempted kick and instead struck the Frenchman's right leg.
He immediately showed remorse, attempting to assist his prone opponent.
English referee Wayne Barnes did not see the incident, but he reversed an Irish penalty following a brief discussion with his touch judge.
"It's still a collision with no arms, and I had already warned your number six (Stephen Ferris). The penalty would have been for you, but it has now been reversed," Barnes explained to Flannery at the time.
Ireland coach Declan Kidney defended Flannery in the immediate aftermath, putting it down to an accidental clash. Scottish citing commissioner Peter Brown disagreed with the Irish coach.
"The whistle had gone (for an Irish penalty), it was a 50-50 ball, two guys collided, the referee didn't make anything of it, and the touch judge had his flag out, he thought it was a penalty," said Kidney.
France scored their first try, through hooker William Servat, from the decision to kick that penalty to touch and drive the resulting lineout possession.
Flannery has priors in front of Prof Crear, having received eight weeks from an ERC disciplinary committee chaired by the Scot in January 2008 after stamping on Clermont Auvergne number eight Julien Bonnaire in a Heineken Cup match. This was halved on appeal, allowing him to feature in that season's Six Nations.
Flannery is due to join up with the rest of the starting XV for a two-day mini-camp in Cork tomorrow, but the seven replacements - Eoin Redden, Jonny Sexton, Paddy Wallace, Rory Best, Tom Court, Donnacha Ryan and Seán O'Brien - who all, bar the last, featured in Paris, have been released for Magners League duty this weekend.
The major concern for both Ireland and Leinster is the knee injury sustained by Rob Kearney. The official line from the Irish management is they remain hopeful he will feature in Twickenham, but a return in four weeks against Wales seems more realistic.
Keith Earls deputised for the Lions Test fullback against France, but Geordan Murphy came off the bench for the Leicester Tigers' defeat of Leeds Carnegie over the weekend and the previous week against Northampton after a five-month lay-off with a shoulder injury.
Murphy would be a welcome addition to the full Irish camp when they reconvene next Monday.
For now, though, the focus momentarily switches back to the Magners League as Ulster entertain the Dragons on Friday, Edinburgh face Munster in Cork and Leinster play hosts to the Scarlets at the RDS Showgrounds.
Meanwhile, much like Rocky Elsom's single-season sojourn with Leinster, Munster have confirmed that Jean de Villiers will return to South Africa this summer to ensure his place in the Springboks' 2011 World Cup plans.
Speaking from the Munster warm-weather camp in Lanzarote, de Villiers said: "I feel this is perhaps my last opportunity to represent my country at the rugby World Cup, and after consultation with Saru it has become clear that to qualify for selection players must be playing their rugby in South Africa in the season leading up to the competition," he said in a statement.
"I'm thoroughly enjoying my time here in Munster and I think it would be fair to say that had the rugby World Cup not been a factor then I would be remaining for at least the next two seasons. I would not rule out returning here after rugby World Cup 2011 either if the opportunity arose."
Munster chief executive Garrett Fitzgerald added: "Jean made us aware of this scenario before he joined us last September. He has been a hugely positive addition to the squad this season. His influence has grown and continues to grow as he becomes more and more comfortable within the squad.
"While he will be a major loss, we fully respect his ambition and he will leave us at the end of the season with our very best wishes."
