Rugby: Tomás O'Leary and John Hayes will have little time to dwell on their omissions from the World Cup campaign having been named in the 28-man Munster squad ahead of the opening fixture of the new season against Newport Gwent Dragons at Musgrave Park on Saturday (7.45pm).
The scrumhalf and prop trained today as the defending champions look to open the inaugural RaboDirect Pro 12 season on a high.
James Coughlan is also available to Tony McGahan after recovering from an eye injury and Johne Murphy is over the hamstring strain he suffered when playing for an Ireland XV against Connacht earlier this month.
Darragh Hurley (Achilles), BJ Botha (calf), Troy Smith (knee), David Wallace (knee) and Felix Jones (foot) are all out injured.
The Dragons have named new signings Tom Brown, Rhys Buckley, Nathan Williams and Joe Bedford in their squad, while scrumhalf Wayne Evans and Martyn Thomas are available after injury.
Lewis Evans (calf) and Jamie Smith (back) are being rested for the match.
Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin has named a 29-man squad for the game against Glasgow at Ravenhill on Friday (7.05pm) and it includes new signings Callum Black, Lewis Stevenson and Mike McComish.
Prop Adam Macklin and utility back Peter Nelson could also earn their first Ulster caps.
Ulster have nine players involved in the World Cup but can still call on an impressive array of talent that includes Chris Henry, Pedrie Wannenburg and Dan Tuohy.
Eight of Glasgow’s squad are heading for New Zealand but former Ulster wing Tommy Seymour is in line for a swift return to Ravenhill
Gavin Duffy has taken over from John Muldoon as captain of Connacht for the upcoming season and will lead the side out for the first time against Benetton Treviso in the Stadio Monigo on Saturday.
The 29-year-old fullback from Ballina has been capped 10 times by Ireland and has a wealth of experience at club level.
“I’m delighted to be asked to captain the team for the year,” said Duffy today. “Playing for your province is a huge honour and to be asked to captain the side only adds to that.
“It is a very exciting time for Connacht at the moment, the launch of the new league, the Heineken Cup and the new developments at the Sportsground, being part of that team is very special.”
“There’s been huge support for Connacht in the last couple of years and this season, with the number of season tickets already sold, there should be a great buzz in the Sportsground.”
“It’s up to us now to put in the performances on the pitch and everyone’s looking forward to getting the league started this weekend”
Head Coach Eric Elwood said the time was right for Duffy to lead his province.
“Gavin is one of our most senior players and a great servant to the club,” said the former Ireland outhalf. “He has shown huge leadership both on and off the pitch and will captain the squad for the season ahead. John (Muldoon) has been a terrific captain for the last three years and will continue to lead by example but now it’s Gavin’s opportunity to lead the team.”
Connacht have yet to name their squad for the Treviso game.
Munster squad: S Scanlon, J Murphy, D Howlett, D Hurley, S Zebo, L Mafi, D Barnes, S Deasy, I Keatley, D Williams, P Stringer, T O'Leary; M Horan, W du Preez, D Varley, M Sherry, S Archer, J Hayes, P Borlase, D Foley, M O'Driscoll, I Nagle, B Holland, D O'Callaghan, P O'Mahony, T O'Donnell, N Ronan, J Coughlan.
Dragons squad: M Thomas, S Jones, A Hughes, M Poole, P Leach, T Riley, A Smith, J Tovey, W Evans, J Bedford, P Price, T Willis (c), R Buckley, N Williams, D Way, B Castle, A Jones, J Groves, R Sidoli, A Coombs, G Thomas, H Ellis, T Brown.
Ulster squad: P Marshall, I Porter, I Humphreys, P Jackson, I Whitten, L Marshall, N Spence, D Cave, P Nelson, C Gaston, C Gilroy, A D'Arcy; P McAllister, C Black, J Cronin, D Fitzpatrick, A Macklin, J Burns, A Kyriacou, N Brady, D Tuohy, L Stevenson, T Barker, N McComb, M McComish, P Wannenburg, C Henry, W Faloon, R Diack
