TOMAS O’LEARY AND John Hayes both trained with Munster this week and will be part of Tony McGahan’s squad for the Red Army’s game against Newport Gwent Dragons in Cork on Saturday night.
Scrum-half O’Leary was a surprise omission from Declan Kidney’s final World Cup panel, while Hayes is contracted to the province until the end of the tournament in New Zealand and was not expected to play again for the province as no Munster prop made the final cut. However, he has now been incorporated into Munster’s early season plans.
James Coughlan has also been included after recovering from the eye injury he suffered against London Wasps while back Johne Murphy could also feature despite suffering a hamstring strain while in action for Ireland against Connacht recently.
Connacht coach Eric Elwood, meanwhile, has decided to appoint a new team captain at the club for the coming season – with the experienced Gavin Duffy getting the nod. The full-back has been a key performer for province since returning from a spell at Harlequins in 2007 and was “delighted” by his coach’s request.
“Playing for your province is a huge honour and to be asked to captain the side only adds to that,” Duffy told the club’s website. “It is a very exciting time for Connacht at the moment (with) the launch of the new league, the Heineken Cup and the new developments at the Sportsground – being part of that team is very special.”
Connacht begin the new RaboDirect Pro12 campaign with a fixture against Benetton Treviso in Italy on Saturday.
Leinster will have Isa Nacewa, Eoin O’Malley and Richardt Strauss available for their trip to the Ospreys but will be without Eamonn Sheridan until 2012 after scans confirmed that the ligament damage he suffered recently is worst than originally suspected. Steven Sykes (knee) and Andrew Conway (ankle) will also miss out.
Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin has named a 29-man squad for his side’s game against Glasgow and included new signings Callum Black, Lewis Stevenson and Mike McComish as well as youngsters Adam Macklin and utility back Peter Nelson, both of whom will be hoping to get their first cap for the province.
Watch interviews from all four Irish camps ahead of the new RaboDirect Pro12 launch: