Rugby:Niall Ronan has been ruled out of Munster's final Heineken Cup pool match against the Northampton Saints next weekend after damaging knee ligaments last Saturday. The openside twisted his knee after just 14 minutes of Munster's win over Castres at Thomond Park and while the exact nature of the injury is not known at this stage Ronan will definitely miss the trip to England.
“Ronan had a scan today that showed he's suffered ligament damage to his left knee but he will have to have further examination before the full extent of the injury can be ascertained,” Munster confirmed this evening.
Munster, the only team in the competition still boasting a 100 per cent record, are already assured of a place in the quarter-finals but need to pick up points at the stadium:mk in Milton Keynes to guarantee a home tie in the last eight. Already without David Wallace and Tommy O’Donnell, coach Tony McGahan has until tomorrow lunchtime to decide if he wants to register another player to provide backrow cover.
Ulster, who face a final day shootout with Clermont in Pool Four, could be without influential centre Darren Cave as he recovers from a foot injury sustained during Friday night’s famous win over Leicester. Ulster travel to the Massif Central on Saturday needing at least a losing bonus-point to book their place in the knockout stages.
And Leinster outhalf Jonathon Sexton, who deferred his place-kicking duties to Fergus McFadden against Glasgow yesterday after going over on his ankle, may not be risked against Montpellier at the weekend with coach Joe Schmidt waiting on medical reports before making a final decision.
All four Irish provinces will be live on Sky Sports this weekend, with Connacht hosting Harlequins on Friday night (8pm) before Leinster (1.30pm), Ulster (3.40pm) and Munster (6pm) annex the listings on Saturday.
