World Cup players get back to work

THE MAJORITY of Ireland’s World Cup squad will be back training with their provinces this weekend having been given the best part of fortnight off. The likes of Brian O’Driscoll in Leinster and Paul O’Connell in Munster won’t return until early next week but a large chunk of them will seek to play some part in the RaboDirect Pro 12 fixtures on October 28th.

Every one of them will be keen to feature in the Leinster versus Munster fixture at the Aviva Stadium on Friday, November 4th while Ulster face Connacht in Ravenhill the next day.

The first round of the Heineken Cup is November 11th-13th.

Leinster coach Joe Schmidt is waiting to see what condition his 14 internationals return in. Shane Jennings, Seán Cronin, Isaac Boss, Leo Cullen and Fergus McFadden haven’t played much rugby these past couple of months, but that doesn’t mean they will be adequately conditioned. “No, the training they have gone through over a long period of time takes its toll,” said Schmidt yesterday.

The Kiwi is also mindful of how he reintegrates players like Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip, Mike Ross and Seán O’Brien who have racked up some serious mileage. “Their fitness peaked for the Australia match (on September 17th) I would have thought, so inevitably some of them who would have played a lot, like Cian, it told on them. That was pretty visible in the Welsh game when he started to fatigue. Jamie (Heaslip) played everything but seven or eight minutes. There are some of them in need of some rest and reconditioning really.”

Another immediate issue for Schmidt is Cillian Willis. The former Blackrock scrumhalf has provided impressive cover for Eoin Reddan and Isaac Boss on a short-term contract. “I’m talking to Cillian today,” Schmidt continued. “We want to see what he wants to do first and foremost. He is now 26 so he wants to play. I think he has really enjoyed playing week to week over the past six to eight weeks but with Isaac Boss and Eoin Reddan coming back that makes it quite tight. We’ve also got John Cooney who is a development player looking to get a bit of time as well.

“There is an A game this Friday against Ulster at 6pm at Donnybrook so there are still games but whether we can manufacture enough competitive games to keep Cillian interested is something we need to have a chat about.”

Shane Horgan sees a knee specialist this week while a fit again Andrew Conway could feature on Friday.

Ulster are still awaiting the arrival of newly-signed All Black prop John Afoa (who is unlikely to make the New Zealand bench for Sunday’s final) but they put up the other eight players involved in the World Cup for interview today.

Rory Best, Stephen Ferris and Andrew Trimble return with enhanced reputations while Paddy Wallace, Tom Court, Simon Danielli, Ruan Pienaar and Johann Muller should at least return fairly fresh.

Munster have problems at tighthead prop, while Jerry Flannery, Felix Jones and David Wallace remain on their long-term rehabilitation list.

Munster poised to give Hayes new contract

MUNSTER ARE poised to offer John Hayes a new contract. The 105-times capped tighthead prop was passed over for Ireland’s World Cup squad, but kept under contract until the tournament concluded in case he was required as an injury replacement.

Hayes’ IRFU deal ends on Sunday but circumstances in Munster mean, despite turning 38 next month, his retirement has been postponed. Darragh Hurley is struggling with an Achilles tendon problem while Kiwi Peter Borlase has knee and back injuries.