Australia too soon for Wood

Keith Wood is out of the Ireland squad for next Saturday's Test against Australia at Lansdowne Road.

Ireland's captain and hooker has not sufficiently recovered from a neck injury that has dogged him for the last couple of months.

He will be replaced in the squad by Cork Constitution's Frankie Sheahan, with Blackrock College's Shane Byrne likely to win the starting role. Wood has not yet been ruled out of the internationals against Fiji and Argentina.

There's also a problem with Denis Hickie. The winger has aggravated a hand injury he suffered in Leinster's Celtic League match against Bridgend last weekend and Leicester star Geordan Murphy has been called into the squad as a precaution.

Meanwhile, Munster coach Alan Gaffney yesterday received news that Anthony Horgan has been given the all-clear to resume full training following a visit to a specialist. Gaffney will also have Donncha O'Callaghan and Jeremy Staunton back in training in a week, while Martin Cahill resumed training earlier this week.