Injury list still growing

Celtic League / Munster: Munster coach Alan Gaffney could be forgiven a wry smile. Anticipating the return for his national squad members for tomorrow night's Celtic League match against Cardiff at Musgrave Park, it seemed a timely respite from the catalogue of injuries that have affected the squad during the campaign.

Yesterday's training session deprived him of his two first-choice wings in John Kelly and Anthony Horgan. The Heineken Cup begins the weekend after next and therefore there isn't the remotest possibility that players carrying knocks, no matter how trivial, will be risked.

Kelly tweaked his Achilles tendon while Horgan suffered a slight hamstring strain. The disruption is minor in that Shaun Payne and Mossie Lawler, who deputise for the duo, have been pretty much the first-choice wingmen during the Celtic League campaign. Dominic Crotty and Martin McPhail have been added to the replacements, a list that includes Rob Henderson.

Mike Mullins and Jason Holland continue their long standing midfield partnership while Ronan O'Gara and Peter Stringer are reunited in Munster colours. The returning Irish squad contingent fill the front five positions in the pack.

Alan Quinlan is a long-term absentee following shoulder surgery, as is Denis Leamy (torn cruciate knee ligament) so what was once an embarrassment of riches in the back row offers a little less depth. Anthony Foley and David Wallace join captain Jim Williams as the breakaway trio.

Nine players are listed among the replacements and, providing Henderson is fully rehabilitated from surgery on his arm it appears a straight choice between McPhail and Crotty for a bench spot, the same scenario applicable to Stephen Keogh and Colm McMahon.

MUNSTER: J Staunton; S Payne, M Mullins, J Holland, M Lawler; R O'Gara, P Stringer; M Horan, F Sheahan, J Hayes; D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell; J Williams (capt), A Foley, D Wallace. Replacements (from): M McPhail, D Crotty, R Henderson, E Reddan, S Keogh, C McMahon, T Hogan, J Flannery, S Kerr.