Wales put pack to work

The battle lines for next Saturday's Wembley rendezvous between Wales and Ireland were being drawn in the sand yesterday. While Graham Henry was banishing Welsh journalists from what was to have been an open, 90-minute scrummaging session between the Welsh senior and A packs, the Irish forwards spent much of yesterday's closed session packing down against a scrummaging machine.

It is clear that Henry, with good reason, has identified the scrum as a potential Achilles heel for the Welsh forwards, while his Kiwi counterpart, Warren Gatland, is intent on pressing home whatever advantage his hard-nosed pack can muster in this key area.

Apparently, the Welsh reconvened as early as yesterday week to concentrate on the set scrum, and there's no doubt that Henry could achieve a lot in this area even in the short time permissible to him.

Nevertheless, Henry's problems are accentuated by a number of injury concerns. Allan Bateman's withdrawal with a hamstring strain was confirmed yesterday, so Swansea's Mark Taylor is expected to be recalled. Dai Young, the prop who anchors the Welsh scrum, remains doubtful.

Young pulled out of the Scottish game 24 hours before kick-off with a calf injury and hasn't trained since. Young hopes to resume light training today, but if he doesn't recover in time for Saturday's kick-off then there is real concern amongst Welsh pundits as to the damage Paul Wallace might inflict on the relatively inexperienced Darren Morris.

Another major concern is hooker Jonathan Humphreys, who is suffering from a variety of complaints to his back, calf and hand. He lasted only an hour against Scotland, his one start in the last eight weeks.

Smaller, but supposedly real, question marks also linger over the availability of scrum-half Robert Howley, who didn't train yesterday due to a shoulder injury which forced his interval departure in Cardiff's defeat to Bath on Saturday. The Quinnells are also under observation. Scott has a calf muscle injury, although Craig Quinnell did do some training yesterday and is still expected to return at the expense of Ian Gough in the second row.

Confirmation of this and the extent to which Welsh injury woes are genuine ought to become more apparent if the team is announced today. That announcement was deferred from yesterday.

Team manager David Pickering said: "If needs be, we will leave the team announcement as late as possible this week.

"We want to ensure that all the players concerned get proper rehabilitation, and there is no point in putting ourselves under any unnecessary pressure.

"At the moment, we are reasonably confident that the guys will be fit. At a push, they could all play if the Ireland game was taking place tomorrow."

The Irish management are still on course to reveal their hand today and, somewhat surprisingly, Victor Costello remains a contender for Saturday's game despite the rib cartilage injury he sustained against France, an injury which might normally require a two to three-week recovery period.

Costello took some part in training yesterday and is expected to do so again today. Were he to be declared fit, then the Irish team may show no changes from that which lost 9-10 to France, with Andy Ward having to be content with a place on the bench. Certainly, the performances of Eric Miller and Dion O'Cuinneagain against France hardly merits their omission. Alternatively, manager Donal Lenihan has intimated that Costello could be accommodated on the bench, with Ward returning to a reshuffled back row.

Cover in the back row has been reduced by the sending-off of Trevor Brennan - Costello's replacement against France - and his likely two-week suspension. His league disciplinary committee hearing has been brought forward to 5.0 this evening, and the Irish management are anticipating Brennan's unavailability this weekend.

If nothing else, the committee will feel a certain obligation to support the refereeing fraternity, and it might be even more politically expedient in this instance given the referee in question, Australia's Scott Young, will be in charge at Wembley.

Eddie Halvey's withdrawal from the A squad has prompted a call-up for David Wallace, with David Corkery now likely to fill the vacancy at number six on the A team.

Today's Irish session at the Garda RFC in Westmanstown will begin at 3.15, and not 2.15 as originally advised, though the Irish team will be announced on schedule in the Finnstown House Hotel, Lucan, at 4.30 p.m.