Rugby:Luke Fitzgerald has been drafted into the Ireland squad for the forthcoming autumn internationals after shaking off the hip and rib injuries that had threatened the Leinster flyer's availability.
Fitzgerald was not considered for selection when Declan Kidney named his 34-man squad last week as the Irish medical team waited to ascertain how serious his injuries were.
As it transpired, the knock sustained against Saracens 10 days ago left Fitzgerald with some bruising but no lasting damage. He returned to training with Leinster at the end of last week, although he wasn’t risked in the Magners League against Connacht, and the 23-year-old has been passed fit to join up with the rest of the squad.
Brett Wilkinson has also joined up with the panel at their Limerick base to provide extra cover for the injured Marcus Horan. When Horan withdrew from the squad after suffering a broken bone in his hand last week, the Irish management had indicated they would not be calling up a replacement.
But with tests against South Africa, Samon, New Zealand and Argentina bound to take their toll, a decision was taken over the weekend to bring in the Connacht loosehead.
As the squad assembled in Limerick earlier today to begin their preparations for the four matches, it emerged that Jerry Flannery may yet have some part to play in the series.
Flannery visited a specialist in Liverpool last Friday after suffering a reoccurrence of his calf injury in the Heineken Cup victory over Toulon. He has been advised that a month of rest should resolve the problem and he could yet feature in the latter stages of the November series.