Wallace v Wallace a non-starter

Proving perhaps that at times there isn't much room for sentiment in the modern game, the much-anticipated first ever clash of the Wallace brothers, David and Paul, in Sunday's European Cup tie between Saracens and Munster at Vicarage Road has been ditched following coach Francois Pienaar's decision to demote the elder Paul to the Saracens' bench.

The Irish and Lions' tight-head has thus been denied the chance of both playing against his younger sibling for the first time and against his former province. Wallace has had to make way for Julian White, who has made an earlier than expected recovery from injury.

Ironically, part of the ERC's advance publicity and public relations for the game had included a quote from Mrs Wallace, supposedly conveying a message to the older of her two sons, along the lines of "you leave your younger brother alone". To which Paul Wallace had been quoted as saying: "he's bigger than me anyway".

The demotion of Wallace may be the product of Saracens's troubled scrum against Colomiers last week, for the Puma loose-head Roberto Grau has been chosen on the other side of the scrum ahead of David Flatman.

Pienaar has made a couple of other changes amongst the backs, where Jeremy Thomson replaces Ben Johnson at centre, while Saracens's other Irish link, Darragh O'Mahony, has also been replaced in the reshuffle which sees Rob Thirlby move to wing to accommodate the return at full back of Mark Mapletoft after a month's absence.

SARACENS: M Mapletoft; R Constable, J Thomson, K Sorrell, R Thirlby; T Lacroix, N Walshe; R Grau, G Chuter, J White, S Murray, D Grewcock, R Hill, T Diprose, F Pienaar (capt). Replacements: M Powell, B Johnson, D Flatman, P Wallace, M Cairns, K Chesney, P Ogilvie.