Short of options in the front row, Munster have drafted Stephen Archer into their squad for Friday’s Magners League trip to Edinburgh. The 20-year-old, whose only previous experience this year was in a pre-season friendly, is named in a 26-man squad for Murrayfield.
Already without the suspended John Hayes, Munster lost Marcus Horan and Tony Buckley during the Heineken Cup win over Treviso. Buckley had scans on his calf injury yesterday and is likely to be out for a fortnight.
Horan complained of dizziness at Thomond Park and spent Saturday night in hospital as a precautionary measure.
“He (Horan) is fine now but will see a specialist later in the week,” Munster team manager Shaun Payne told reporters this morning. “Tony (Buckley) had a scan yesterday and will not be available for the trip to Edinburgh and given the nature of the injury must remain a doubt for the game against Ulster.”
While it may be fair to assume the situation in the front row is something of a crisis, Payne preferred to look upon it as a chance for others to stake their claim.
“I prefer the word opportunity. Julien Brugnaut is an experienced prop and I thought Darragh (Hurley) did extremely well when he came. And that's always difficult. So now both have an opportunity.
"Of course you don't like to be without your front line players but we have the back up. And in the number 2 slot we're fortunate to have the likes of Denis Fogarty and Damian Varley.”
The hamstring injury Doug Howlett picked up when preventing a certain try for Treviso has not been deemed serious enough to keep him out and the Kiwi is named in the initial selection.
Coach Tony McGahan will finalise his starting line-up on Thursday.
Munster:Felix Jones, Keith Earls, Doug Howlett, Denis Hurley, Ian Dowling, Jean de Villiers, Lifeimi Mafi, Paul Warwick, Ronan O'Gara, Peter Stringer, Tomas O'Leary, Nick Williams, David Wallace, Niall Ronan, Denis Leamy, Alan Quinlan, Mick O'Driscoll, Donnacha Ryan, Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell, Damian Varley, Denis Fogarty, AN Other, Stephen Archer, Julien Brugnaut, Darragh Hurley.
