Rugby:Munster have elected to hold fire in registering a Heineken Cup replacement for injured hooker Jerry Flannery until after the weekend as they continue to assess their options in the front row.
With Flannery facing another lengthy spell on the sidelines, and just two recognised hookers in their official 38-man ERC squad, Munster had been expected to bring in the youngster Sean Henry as cover.
However, Tony McGahan and the Munster management opted not to make any amendments to their panel before this afternoon’s deadline and will travel to France with just two hookers, namely Damien Varley and Mike Sherry, registered for European competition.
Munster still have the opportunity to supplement their panel before the final pool game with London Irish on Saturday week. By deciding to wait, it is possible the likes of prop Marcus Horan or winger Barry Murphy could be brought in if they can prove their fitness in time.
But travelling with just two hookers represents something of a gamble for Munster. Should either Varley or Sherry ship a knock in training this week, McGahan would be faced with a serious selection dilemma before the all-or-nothing clash with the cash-rich French outfit.
Elsewhere, there were few surprises in Brian McLaughlin’s initial 29-man selection for Saturday’s match with Biarritz. Ulster stand on the brink of a first appearance in the knockout stages since winning the tournament in 1999 and McLaughlin has no new injury concerns at this stage.
Ruan Pienaar has recovered from the rib injury that forced him off at half time against Treviso last weekend while Andrew Trimble will be fit after suffering a back spasm. Number eight Robbie Diack remains sidelined with a shoulder injury.
Biarritz were comfortable winners when the sides first met last October but, with a quarter-final berth at stake, McLaughlin is relishing the chance for revenge in Belfast.
“Getting to the Heineken Cup quarter-finals has been one of our prime objectives for the season - it is most certainly where we want to be," said head coach Brian McLaughlin. "However, Biarritz are an extremely strong side, they have a great pedigree in the Heineken Cup, they were last season's finalists and have openly stated they want to win this tournament.
"In players like Imanol Harinordoquy, Dimitri Yachvili and Damien Traille they have some smashing individuals and we are under no illusions that we are in for an extremely tough game . . . we know what we have to try and do, which is to get the win we need and go to Aironi to play for a quarter-final place.
"Our Heineken Cup destiny is in our own hands and although we know we are still an improving and emerging side, we know we are not there yet and that we have plenty of work to do. We are not as consistent as we would like but we feel we are in the process of getting where we want to be and with the type of rugby we want to play."
Ulster squad:Tom Court, Declan Fitzpatrick, Jerry Cronin, Bryan Young, BJ Botha, Rory Best, Nigel Brady, Andi Kyriacou, Tim Barker, Neil McComb, Dan Tuohy, Johann Muller, TJ Anderson, Chris Henry, Willie Faloon, Pedrie Wannenburg, Stephen Ferris; Adam D'Arcy, David McIlwaine, Jamie Smith,
Mark McCrea, Andrew Trimble, Simon Danielli, Paddy Wallace, Nevin Spence, Ian Whitten, Ian Humphreys, Paul Marshall, Ruan Pienaar
