It's a sad state of affairs to be discussing the onset of the new rugby season with summer seemingly never having taken place. Onward it comes anyway, with Connacht learning that Eric Elwood and Conor McGuinness will be notable absentees in the first match of the domestic campaign when the western province meet the touring Moroccan international side this Friday evening at the Sportsground.
More worryingly for newly installed Connacht coach Glenn Ross, the duo could also be sidelined for the start of the interprovincial campaign when the westerners entertain Munster on Saturday week.
McGuinness underwent a toe operation during the close season in response to the injury which troubled him for much of last season and required cortisone injections, while Elwood has a shoulder injury which requires rest. "Obviously it's a bit of a set-back but we're keeping our fingers crossed that they might be okay for the Munster game," said Ross.
Hence, the team to play Morocco will be without any internationals. Owen Cobbe replaces Elwood and Diramuid Reddan comes in for McGuinness with Mervyn Murphy taking over the captaincy from Elwood in a back-line which sees Russel Southam at full-back.
Like Leinster and Ulster, Connacht have been unable to locate the sort of pre-season friendlies which have been the norm in recent years. By comparison, Munster seem to have stolen a slight march on their counterparts with last week's trip to Wales, which saw them beat Rumney 57-0 and Llanelli 42-26.
In a largely unchanged squad, Munster have left one of their allotted 21 full-time contracts vacant with a view to procuring a lock from abroad. Disconcertingly for them, Thomond Park will be unavailable for the interprovincials and, quite possibly, the European Cup, as the pitch is being re-sodded. Their home fixtures against Leinster and Connacht have been fixed for Dooradoyle instead.
In the meantime, Munster play a trial match to celebrate the opening of a new clubhouse in Ballincollig tomorrow evening, when Ulster will also play at Dungannon. Ulster returned from a week's training in Loughborough at the weekend, where Leinster are now based with a squad of 34 this week.
Leinster have welcomed back Gabriel Fulcher and Henry Hurley from England, as well as the former London Irish tight-head, Ian McLoughlin, who has joined Blackrock, and have chosen the Old Belvedere hooker cum tight-head Tim Mannix, a former Wellington Super 12 player, as one of their overseas figures, while keeping another full-time contract in reserve.
However, newly installed Ulster coach Harry Williams (who will be assisted by Colm Wilkinson) has had the biggest influx of prodigal sons, with the Dungannon quintet of Mark McCall, David Humphreys, Justin Fitzpatrick, Allen Clarke and Jonathan Bell being supplemented by the arrival of former Irish fullback Simon Mason at Ballymena, as well as the Armagh lock Mark Blair, who has joined Ballymena from Scottish side Currie.
Williams has retained two of his allotted 21 full-time contracts, where "we're looking at the back row and number 10."
