Rugby – Squad news:The St Mary's duo of Jonathan Sexton and Shane Jennings have both been named in an extended Leinster squad ahead of Friday night's Magners League clash against Glasgow at the RDS, assuming of course the match takes place at all.
Sexton has recovered from injury to take his place in the panel alongside wing forward Jennings, who will captain the side for the visit of the league leaders.
The pair join 11 other fellow Ireland internationals - including Jamie Heaslip, Rob Kearney and Brian O’Driscoll, who was today named player of the decade by World Rugby Magazine – plus no less than 10 recent graduates from the Leinster Academy.
Nathan Hines, Isa Nacewa and Stan Wright remain in contention for a starting berth with the match day 22 set to be finalised at lunchtime tomorrow.
A decision on whether the match will go ahead has yet to be taken with following today’s heavy snowfall in the capital. It remains a possibility that the match will be brought forward from 8pm to a 6pm kick-off.
The snow were something of a first for forwards coach Jono Gibbes.
“Where I come from it doesn’t snow,” explained the Kiwi. “So today was my first day actually being out on a rugby field and for it to snow! It was a bit of a novelty for around 20 seconds, and then it was just miserable.”
Regardless of the conditions, everyone at the club is keeping their fingers crossed that the fixture is fulfilled with back-to-back Heineken Cup matches looming.
“It’s pretty important that the match goes ahead, but also because we’re back in the RDS and we get to face the top of the table team. They’re really confident and have been consistently performing this year, so we get to measure ourselves and take them on and try to challenge them.
“It would be less than ideal to go into those (Heineken Cup) games without two weekends of rugby, but in saying that these are the cards that you’re dealt and it wouldn’t be the worst thing either because the few players who had bumps and bruises might benefit from the break.”
Glasgow head coach, Sean Lineen, described Friday’s showdown (8pm) as a “big test” for his squad who are aiming to remain at the league summit.
“This is a big test for us. We are away from home against the European champions but the players are really up for it,” said Lineen.
“We know what Leinster are about and we know they have a great pitch will attract a massive crowd.”
The Warriors have been forced to make just one change to the backrow where Johnnie Beattie comes in at number eight for Richie Vernon, who is suffering from a flu bug.
Munster, meanwhile, have named a strong selection for the visit of the Scarlets to Musgrave Park as they gear up for the Heineken Cup trip to Treviso.
Jerry Flannery remains sidelined but is expected to feature in Italy or the final European pool game against Northampton. John Hayes will also sit out the visit of the Welsh region.
Again, the weather remains a concern although the indications from ground staff at the Cork venue are that the match will proceed on Sunday as planned.
The provice trained today at the University of Limerickwith the afternoon session taking place on the "not quite all-weather soccer pitch beside the Bowl, half of which was frozen under a light covering of snow".
Leinster squad (v Glasgow):J Fogarty, C Healy, J Heaslip, N Hines, T Hogan, B Jackman, S Jennings, Stephen Keogh, R McCormack, K McLaughlin, S O'Brien, M O'Kelly, M Ross, R Strauss, D Toner, S Wright .S Berne, G Dempsey, D Kearney, R Kearney, Simon Keogh, F McFadden, I Nacewa, P O'Donohoe, B O'Driscoll, E Reddan, J Sexton
Glasgow (v Leinster):B Stortoni; DTH van der Merwe, M Evans, G Morrison, T Evans; D Parks, C Cusiter; J Welsh, D Hall, M Low; A Kellock, R Gray; K Brown, J Barclay, J Beattie.
Munster squad (v Scarlets):D Hurley, I Dowling, D Howlett, T Gleeson, J de Villiers, K Earls, L Mafi, P Warwick, R O'Gara, D Williams, T O'Leary, P Stringer, W du Preez, S Archer, T Buckley, D Fogarty, D Varley, P O'Connell, D Ryan, D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll, A Quinlan, N Ronan, B Holland, D Wallace, J Coughlan.