Williams facing selection headache

Leinster's Heineken Cup bid has been hit by further injury worries ahead of their quarter-final tie against Biarritz at Lansdowne…

Leinster's Heineken Cup bid has been hit by further injury worries ahead of their quarter-final tie against Biarritz at Lansdowne Road on Saturday.

Captain and prop Reggie Corrigan and winger Shane Horgan were this week rated as unlikely starters, but coach Matt Williams, already with confirmed non-starters in Des Dillon, Paul Wallace and Andy Dunne, has been forced to add five more names to the injury list - four of them internationals.

Winger Denis Hickie, hooker Shane Byrne and flanker Keith Gleeson are all carrying knocks from Ireland's Grand Slam showdown with England at Lansdowne Road 11 days ago.

Both Hickie and Gleeson have calf injuries, while Byrne has a shoulder problem.

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In addition, Australian-born fly-half Christian Warner has a back strain while prop Emmett Byrne has a head wound.

It means Williams today had to announce a 28-man squad - 13 backs and 15 forwards - for the match rather than their intended 22. Should Corrigan join the non-starters, Irish skipper Brian O'Driscoll will take over leadership of the side.

Of the injury situation, a Leinster spokesman said: "They're all training today, the medics will see them in the morning to see how they reacted to that and then they've training tomorrow afternoon.

"Under competition rules we have to announce a 22 by 12 noon tomorrow, which we'll do, but we've got a sanction from the ERC to put in a couple of either-ors in."

Squad: Backs- G Dempsey, P McKenna, D Hickie, B O'Driscoll, P Wallace, S Horgan, D Quinlan, G D'Arcy, N Spooner, C Warner, B O'Meara, B O'Riordan, B Willis.

Forwards- R Corrigan, E Byrne, J Lyne, S Byrne, G Hickie, D Blaney, N Treston, P Coyle, L Cullen, M O'Kelly, A Kearney, E Miller, K Gleeson, V Costello, A McCullen.