Munster Squad: Long-term casualties Mike Mullins, Christian Cullen and Jeremy Manning have all been included in a 23-strong Munster squad for the Celtic League match against the Llanelli Scarlets at Stradey Park tomorrow.
Munster coach Declan Kidney welcomed back his elite players for the first time in seven weeks. "This is a huge game for us in terms of qualification for next season's Heineken Cup. Results against the Scarlets in recent years just point up the enormity of the challenge we face," he said.
MUNSTER SQUAD: M Horan, J Hayes, F Pucciariello, D Fogarty, J Flannery, P O'Connell, D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll, T Hogan, S Keogh, D Wallace, J O'Sullivan, A Foley, P Stringer, T O'Leary, R O'Gara, J Manning, T Halstead, M Mullins, I Dowling, J Kelly, C Cullen, S Payne.
UNDER-19 WORLD CUP: Ireland face England in the opening match of the Under-19 World Cup that runs in Dubai from April 5th-21st. The Irish lost to both England and Wales at this level but manager Keith Patton said: "We have come a long way since our game against Australia at Christmas and have a strong squad."
The four schools senior cup provincial winners - Blackrock, St Munchin's, Methody and Coláiste Iognáid - contribute only three players in Aidan Wynne, Keith Earls and Ger Slattery.
SQUAD: D Drake (Instonians), I Keatley (UCD), M Barker (QUB), B Collins (Castleknock), N O'Connor (Limavady GS), P O'Donohoe (Belvedere), I Dineen (CBC Cork), I Whitten (QUB), S Carey (St. Joseph's College, Garbally), K Earls (St Munchin's), S Monahan (DU), A Wynne (Blackrock), T Anderson (QUB), D Gilchrist (UCD), J Graham (Ballynahinch), T O'Donnell (UL Bohemian), D Pollock (QUB), R Sweeney (UCD), A Browne (Galwegians), T Walsh (Castleknock), C McInerney (UCD), R Murphy (Castleknock), K Sheahan (UCD), G Slattery (St Munchin's), C Healy (Belvedere), J Gethings (Gonzaga). Management: C McAleese (coach), K Patton (manager), B Byrne (assistant coach), K Keane (assistant coach), Dr T O'Flanagan (doctor), S Collins (physio), K Gilligan (fitness advisor), D Suffern (technical analyst), J O'Hagan (baggage master).
Ireland fixtures: Wednesday, April 5th, v England Exiles 8pm; Sunday, April 9th, v France Exiles, 6pm; Thursday, April 13th, v Samoa Sharjah, 8pm.
EUROPEAN CUP: The venues for the European Cup semi-finals were announced yesterday by the ERC. If Munster and Leinster come through their respective quarter-final games next weekend against Perpignan and Toulouse, they will face each other in Lansdowne Road. If Toulouse beat Leinster then Munster will have to travel to France for the semi-final, while if Perpignan defeat Munster, the French team will then meet Leinster in a Lansdowne Road semi-final.
Potential European Cup semi-final venues: Toulouse v Munster/Perpignan, Le Stadium (capacity 37,000); Leinster v Munster/Perpignan, Lansdowne Road (capacity 48,500); Biarritz Olympique v Leicester Tigers/Bath, Rugby Estadio Anoeta, San Sebastian (capacity 32,000); Sale Sharks v Leicester Tigers/Bath Rugby, City of Manchester (capacity 47,500).
