Gatland dangles selection carrot

The first significant pointer towards the make-up of Ireland's 30-man squad for the World Cup will be revealed on Sunday when 30 to 32 players assemble for the initial get-together of the season in Limerick as a prelude to the opening warm-up game against Connacht the following Saturday.

Due to the logistical difficulties of assembling the squad immediately after the conclusion of the second round of Guinness Inter-provincial matches on Saturday, seven English-based players have already been asked to attend the Limerick fitness testing.

The Irish management trio of Warren Gatland, Donal Lenihan and Philip Danaher will meet in Limerick tomorrow, after which, according to Gatland "we'll send out about 20 letters to home-based players who we know already we want to attend the session on Sunday. Then we'll add another four or five on Saturday."

The only two players who look like being ruled out at this juncture are the casualties from the under-21 tournament in Argentina, namely Shane Horgan and Jeremy Staunton. After fitness testing on Monday and Tuesday, the starting selection for the Connacht game probably won't be finalised until Wednesday, when the squad moves on to Limerick, although there won't be any restrictions on the number of travelling replacements.

"We may even strip 26 and they (Connacht) can do the same if they want to," said Gatland, who sees these games against the provinces in a very experimental light.

"Probably against Connacht we'll work on a couple of things. For example, we could concentrate primarily on short line-outs, or primarily on back-row moves for 20 to 30 minutes, or whatever. You can do that in games like this and we'll be using this opportunity to try and work on a few things."

The carrot of a few squad places will add further intrigue to the second round of inter-provincials, although the way the fixtures have panned out, the second round is potentially pivotal, for it could lead to a wide gulf between the top two, Ulster and Munster (both on five points already), and the still pointless duo of Leinster and Connacht.

Leinster entertain Ulster on Friday evening in Donnybrook while Connacht attempt to pick up the pieces after their 50-9 defeat by Ulster when hosting the holders Munster at the Sports-ground on Saturday.

Leinster will finalise their selection today, and without any injury concerns, their prime focus may well be line-outs which, despite having the Ireland's outstanding middle of the line jumper in Malcolm O'Kelly, malfunctioned as it were; Shane Byrne having had an off-day with his arrows.

Despite breaking his nose last Saturday in a two-try performance against Munster, the beefed up Denis Hickie is expected to be fit and will probably captain the side again.

Ulster, also injury free and with Eric Miller progressing nicely on his return after another 25 minute run-out last Saturday, will announce tomorrow, as will Connacht. Wounded pride is their main concern, although Martyn Steffert is reported to have a hamstring strain, and while Glenn Ross' options are limited, it is of some consolation that hooker Shane McDonald has recovered from the hamstring strain which ruled him out of the opener.

The Connacht Branch chief executive Gerry Kelly has appealed to the local rugby public to continue its level of support. "Last Saturday was the biggest crowd we had at an intepro in many years, and the biggest (crowd) since the Australian match three years ago, and we'd hope they'd stick by the team despite the result last Saturday."

The presence of Keith Wood, as with Dion O'Cuinneagain and company last Saturday, will assuredly help, and according to Munster manager Brian O'Brien, the Irish and Lions hooker ought to recover from the bruised thumb which contributed to his departure from the fray last Saturday against Leinster.

Munster also await fitness checks on their respective wingers John O'Neill and Anthony Horgan, with the injury plagued Horgan the more doubtful after retiring with a shoulder injury in Cork.

Weekend Fixtures

Inter-provincial Championship: Friday - Leinster v Ulster, Donnybrook (6.30). Saturday - Connacht v Munster, the Sports-ground (3.00).