LEINSTER, the reigning interprovincial champions, Munster and Ulster will all advance their preparation for the interprovincial series a stage further this afternoon. All three have engagements today Leinster and Munster are in Lancashire and Cheshire to meet English first division opposition in Sale and Orrell respectively, and Ulster have a trial with London Irish at Ravenhill.
The match at Ravenhill will be a practice rather than a competitive fixture, with four periods of 20 minutes. Ulster intend to use all their available squad players in this, with every player getting an outing of at least one 20 minute period.
The matches in Sale and Orrel will, in contrast, be competitive, and Leinster field two sides: Leinster A will meet Sale seconds, in addition to the first team fixture between the sides.
Munster, who on Thursday night defeated Manchester 26-23, make no fewer than 12 changes in their side for the match against Orrell. Those alterations bring in, among others, the Shannon trio of internationals in the back five, Mick Galwey, Anthony Foley and Eddie Halvey, as Munster give the members of the squad who did not play on Thursday night an outing.
Under 21 international Dominic Crotty is at full back, and Andrew Thompson and John Lacey are the only backs who played on Thursday in the side yet again. Thompson moves to the left wing from centre, and Brian Walsh and Mick Lynch form the centre combination.
Killian Keane takes over from Aidan O'Halloran at outside half, and international David O'Mahony is at scrum half for Brian O'Meara, Ian Murray, Paul Cunningham and Noel Healy form a new front row, with Galwey partnered by Len Dinneen, the only forward in the side who played against Manchester. Des Clohessy joins Foley and Halvey in the back row.
Orrell, who lost several players during the close season, including Ireland full back Simon Mason, field a team that includes England international Nigel Heslop on the left wing. England A international Jim Naylor is on the right wing.
There is another international in the centre in Dave Lyon, who won his international caps as member of the Great Britain rugby league side. He will be partnered by Lua Tuigamala, brother of the more famous Va'aiga, who turned to rugby league and is shortly scheduled to make a return to the union code with Wasps.
There is some experience in the Orrell pack that includes England under 21 flanker Alex Bennett.
Leinster will face a familiar figure this afternoon in former All Black John Mitchell, who, of course, saw service with Garryowen and helped coach the Ireland forwards during the championship last season. He joined Sale as a player coach early in the summer. Mitchell, who plays at number eight, will "have a direct confrontation with another New Zealander, Dean Oswald, who plays at number eight for Leinster.
Sale also include blind side flanker Dylan O'Grady, who has played for the Exiles in the interprovincial series in recent seasons. Another Exiles player, David Erskine, is injured, as is Ireland scrum half Chris Saverimutto. He is out until the new year following a knee operation.
Sale have landed a worthy replacement for Saverimutto in former England and Lions scrumhalf Dewi Morris, and he forms the half back partnership with Neil Ryan. Sale lost the man who did so much for the club in recent years, former wales outside, half Paul Turner, who left the club in rather acrimonious circumstances and is now with Bedford.
Sale have done a major recruitment job from rugby league and include former Great Britain rugby league international Dave Wright in the centre today. Another rugby league recruit, former Wales and Lions centre John Devereux, is injured, but another former Welsh international wing, Adrian Hadley, who has also been recruited from league, may play on the right wing, depending on a fitness report.
The second row includes two England A internationals in Dan Baldwin and John Fowler, and Fowler has recently been called into the England senior squad. So a very strong side indeed to face the Leinster senior team.
Leinster, with Alain Roll and at scrum half on the senior side and Niall Hogan on the A team, which includes an international second row combination in Neil Francis and Brian Rigney, should get two worthy matches.
Sale finished fifth in the English first division last season and last week defeated Scottish side Stirling County by 69-0 with a very powerful display against a Scottish team liberally endowed with representative players.
Leinster yesterday named a panel of replacements who will serve for both matches, and an interesting member of that panel is former Ireland, international and one time Leinster captain Kelvin Leahy.
Because of the nature of the exercise at Ravenhill, Ulster have not named a side, but four of the Ulster squad will not take any part in the proceedings because of injury. They are centre Mark McCall, who got a knock on the head playing for his new club Dungannon on Wednesday night against London Irish Ireland A wing James Topping, who injured a knee in the Ireland squad sessions last week, and the Ballymena second row pair Gary Longwell and Alan Robinson,
. The season in Leinster gets under way at Anglesea Road tomorrow when Old Belvedere hold a Tens tournament for the Ollie Campbell trophy. This tournament replaces the Old Belvedere seven a side competition which was part of the calendar with such success for a quarter of a century.
Twelve teams have entered, nine from Leinster, NIFC and Bangor from Ulster, while Crusaders from Scotland give the international dimension to the event. The action starts at 11.30 a.m., with the group matches and the final is scheduled for 6.0 p.m.
