RUGBY:JERRY FLANNERY will undergo a MRI scan to establish the extent of the damage he sustained to his left calf in the final seconds of Munster's 35-10 victory over Ulster at Thomond Park on Saturday.

The 32-year-old has endured a wretched run with injury, but at least the problem is not in the same calf that has largely kept him out of action since October.

Flannery had been introduced as a replacement for Damien Varley in the 54th minute of the Ulster match, having played 40 minutes in a game for Shannon the previous weekend and come through Irish squad training during the week.

His return to Munster colours was greeted by the biggest roar of the night, and he was an impressive presence right up until the point he clutched his leg in agony during the final passage of play.

He was assisted from the pitch and straight to the dressing-room, clearly distraught at this latest setback.

Munster coach Tony McGahan explained: “It’s a different calf (injury), not the same one. We’ll just have to wait and see.

“He is quite upset and everyone is feeling for him at this point in time. We will get a scan. He worked really hard to get back from where he was and there is no doubt he will work really hard to get back from this one as well.

“I haven’t gone through the details with him, he just knows it is injured and we will wait and see with the scan.”

Flannery’s only other game time with Munster this season was a 20-minute cameo as a replacement for Varley in the victory over Toulon in the Heineken Cup pool match last October. He failed to complete that match, suffering damage to his right calf, and had been sidelined since.

Quite apart from the personal toll of this latest setback, another enforced sabbatical would have a significant knock-on effect for Ireland with the coming Six Nations Championship and, more pertinently, in the short term for Munster, as the latter prepare for their final two pool matches against Toulon and London Irish in the Heineken Cup.

As things stand, Munster have only two registered hookers eligible for the tournament in Varley and Mike Sherry. They have an option of registering a third hooker – they would have to de-register another player to retain the 38 squad limit – before next Tuesday night’s deadline, and if Flannery were to be ruled out then Seán Henry is likely to be promoted.

If the prognosis on Flannery is better than first feared then McGahan intimated he might look at the option he has at prop. Marcus Horan is due to resume contact training this week, while New Zealand recruit Peter Borlase, who has featured in recent matches, has yet to be registered for European competition.

McGahan explained: “I hope he (Horan) will be back to participate in training this week. He hasn’t trained with the squad yet so hopefully he will get a session this week, maybe get back to the squad full time in Toulon. We still have a few guys hoping to get back; whether time will allow them to get back for rounds five and six we don’t know yet.

“We can make one addition (to the Heineken Cup squad) by Tuesday night. I’ll see what the story with Jerry is first.”

The league leaders face Glasgow Warriors at Musgrave Park on Saturday night before they face into two weekends of European duty. Ian Gale, who withdrew from the Ulster match because of illness, would be available.

Ulster’s Rory Best came through the game against Munster without any problem, his first since fracturing a cheekbone during the November Test series. He’s likely to play as the province host Benetton Treviso at Ravenhill on Friday night.

BJ Botha, who was due to be a replacement at Thomond Park but cried off on the day, should make the match against the Italian side.

Seán O’Brien required stitches to a cut eyebrow when he retired after 13 minutes of Leinster’s 30-8 victory over Connacht at the RDS earlier on Saturday. He could have returned to the fray, but coach Joe Schmidt decided not to risk aggravating the damage with a tough fixture list over the coming weeks.

Kevin McLaughlin played the full 80 minutes without any reaction, his first game in seven months.

Connacht coach Eric Elwood was understandably irate his injury-ravaged side must play a third game in 11 days when opposing the Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade on Thursday in what can only be described as ludicrous scheduling.