O'Cuinneagain is a surprise Munster standby

The former Irish captain Dion O'Cuinneagain is a surprise nomination - along with the Cork Constitution centre Conor Mahony - as one of Munster's two additional players for the knockout stages of the European Cup.

Each of the eight participants in this weekend's quarter-finalists were permitted to name two additional players by 5.0 p.m. yesterday, and once they hadn't appeared in the competition heretofore for another team this season, they were not deemed ineligible.

The 28-year-old back-row forward has missed much of the season with a broken hand which meant that he wasn't even named among Ulster's 30man squad for the Cup this season. In fact O'Cuinneagain is currently in South Africa completing the final year of his medical studies before his intended return to Ulster next season and, indeed, he is still injured.

However, whereas others such as Cardiff took the opportunity to have an immediate impact with the predictable addition of Welsh prop Peter Rogers, the Munster management are content with their existing squad. They also decided that O'Cuinneagain could provide experienced, short-term cover in the event of an injury crisis should they reach the semi-finals, which are not until the weekend of Saturday April 21st, or final on May 19th or 20th.

"We wanted someone with proven experience to have as cover in the back row and felt that Dion would be suited to that role," explained Munster team manager Jerry Holland last night. "Ideally we would always want to use one of our own but we felt that although Paul Neville and David Quinlan are fine players with real potential, they mightn't be ready if they were suddenly pitched into a semi-final or a final. And none of this will matter if we don't win on Sunday."

O'Cuinneagain won the last of his 19 caps as a replacement against Italy last season and his temporary recruitment by Munster will not affect his longerterm commitment to Ulster, whose outgoing coach, Harry Williams, has sanctioned the arrangement.

European Cup: Additional players: Biarritz - M Leferve, D Chouchan; Cardiff - P Rogers, S Moore; Gloucester - J Simpson Daniel, C Walton; Leicester - S Booth, G Chuter; Munster - D O'Cuinnegain, C Mahony; Pau - A Mela, J Espag; Stade Francais - L Pedrosa, J Berthe; Swansea - G Smith.

Bath, though beating Newport 38-10 last night, finished five tries short of securing a quarterfinal place as they became the fourth English club to make their European exit.

In appalling conditions, Bath needed 11 tries to steal a final runners-up spot, which would have knocked Pau out of a last-eight clash against Stade Francais in Paris next Saturday.

The home side's task ultimately proved insurmountable, punished for their lack of penetration during home and away games against Munster.