Munster injury list stretches to five

RUGBY/European Cup final countdown: Rob Henderson has joined lengthy casualty list and is apparently another doubtful starter for this Saturday's Heineken Cup final against Leicester.

The Ireland and Lions centre is troubled by a heel injury which is receiving daily treatment. As with the other quartet of walking wounded, Paul O'Connell, Anthony Foley, Jim Williams and Anthony Horgan, Henderson will be given every chance before a final decision is made before the eve-of-match press conference in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on Friday.

Team manager Jerry Holland admitted that Henderson is considered a doubt for the final, though the Munster medical staff are also relatively hopeful about the fitness of Williams, Horgan and Foley, if less so O'Connell (seemingly the biggest concern).

Ultimately, if the history of Munster's recuperative powers are anything to go by (take Peter Clohessy's recovery from a burnt arm for the semi-final as one example) it would be no surprise to see Munster select from a full-strength panel.

Coach Declan Kidney will name a 24-man squad in Thomond Park after Munster's last full-contact session, behind closed doors, this afternoon and this is likely to include all of their injured players.

The management also have a degree of flexibility in that they had long since decided to take their entire squad on a private charter to Wales tomorrow from Shannon Airport given the occasion that was in it, and have until Friday to formally announce their starting line-up.

Meanwhile, rumours circulating in rugby circles and the media in France that Brian O'Driscoll is set to join Biarritz from Leinster have been flatly denied by his father, Frank. "I've heard about these rumours in France that Biarritz were supposedly going to buy out Brian's contract and take him over, but they are complete and total nonsense.

"He's signed up to the end of the World Cup season, in June 2004," added O'Driscoll senior, "and if they offered him 10 million he wouldn't budge. I believe they did approach Brian personally but I didn't even ask about the details as they weren't relevant. There was never any question of him going anywhere."

O'Driscoll's province have already pencilled in a couple of pre-season friendlies before their defence of the Celtic League. In an effort to broaden its provincial appeal, not before time, Leinster will host Bristol at the Longford Rugby Club on August 17th and four days later entertain London Irish at Dr Hickey Park in Greystones.

Meanwhile, the new Irish team jersey was launched in Dublin yesterday with a little modelling from Luke Clohessy, almost as celebrated as his father Peter these days, and also children from the IRFU Tallaght Project.

The new jersey, made by Canterbury, will be worn for the first time during the summer tour of New Zealand and now features the new logo of the Ireland sponsors, Permanent TSB - the new bank formed by the merger of Irish Permanent and TSB Bank.