DOUG HOWLETT (hamstring) and Ian Dowling (knee) both underwent scans yesterday to determine the full extent of injuries they picked up against Northampton Saints at Thomond Park. The results of those scans will be announced today.

Meanwhile, the Biarritz coach Jean Michel Gonzalez, yesterday reflected the enthusiasm of the Basque team’s desire to host Munster at Estadoio Anoeta for a second time.

“To play Munster at Anoeta is a great thing for the public, the atmosphere. It will be a great occasion with 8,000 Munster supporters coming. On the pitch, it will be very different from what Ospreys offered. There will be less madness from the three quarters. We know what to expect.

“Munster is a great team. They play a very direct rugby based on the forwards, with more kicking. It should suit us more than the rugby played by the Ospreys.”

Off the pace in the Top 14 and just outside the top six play-off places and Heineken Cup qualification for next season, Biarritz have targeted the cup as their primary focus for the last couple of months and their talismanic captain Dimitri Yachvili said: “It is going to be a great match against on the big guns of European rugby. There will be fear, respect and determination from our part.”

With the British Irish Cup semi-final less than two weeks away, Anthony Foley takes a youthful Munster squad to London tomorrow to play Esher RFC.

The game will be played at Esher’s Molesey Road ground with a provisional 5.45pm kick-off.

MUNSTER: T Smith; R OMahony, M Kelliher, M Lawlor, L ODea; P Rowley, A McNulty; D Kilcoyne, M Sherry, P O'Regan; F McKenna, F Walsh; D Sherry, E Grace, P Butler. Replacements: D Casey, J Cronin, D Frawley, K O'Gorman, C Sheridan, J Holland, D Maloney.