RUGBY:IRELAND COACH Declan Kidney looks like being able to call upon Tommy Bowe and Stephen Ferris for the Six Nations Championship clash with Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday week. The medical prognosis on Bowe is positive. He will not join the Ireland squad in Cork tomorrow – they have two pitch sessions on the Thursday – but instead remain with the Ospreys.

The primary reason he’ll stay with the Welsh franchise is on the assumption of some game time during their Magners League clash with Benetton Treviso at Stadio Communale di Monigo on Saturday. Bowe has made good progress in rehabilitating the damage to his right knee. Kidney will be in contact with the Ospreys but it is up to the latter with regard to how much, if any, of the weekend game he may play.

It is interesting to note that despite his injury the Lions and Ireland wing has racked up more playing minutes than any other member of the Ireland squad this season. The Ireland coach will also know the player is capable of filling a number of roles in the backline, apart from his traditional slot on the right wing.

Bowe is back running and provided there is no reaction from the right knee it seems likely he’ll play some part in the Treviso game.

Ferris (left knee) was given a 30 per cent chance of making the French match and is well advanced in his recuperation: Kidney will consult with Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin about the possibility of game time in their Magners match against the Scarlets in the Principality on Friday.

Only the starting team from Ireland’s 25-22 defeat to France at the Aviva Stadium will convene in Cork tomorrow and undergo two pitch sessions on the Thursday. Kidney has released the Irish replacements bench from the French game back to their province for Magners League duty this weekend.

Brian O’Driscoll suffered a stiff neck but it is a minor concern and there are no fresh injuries arising from last weekend’s Test match. The legacy of regret is something that will linger for a day or two longer within the Irish squad.

Tighthead prop Mike Ross was a mainstay in locking a scrum that many feared for on Sunday in the wake of the travails against Italy. He admitted: “You can take the positives but at the end of the day a loss is a loss. When you’re playing for your country you do not want to lose. We felt that we probably beat ourselves.

“Now you can argue that some of the penalties were harsh enough but some of them weren’t. We have to look at ourselves, look at the video and see what (lessons) we can take from it.”

Ross must now look forward to the Scotland match and one player he won’t have to scrutinise on the video analysis is his Scottish tighthead Euan Murray.

The latter will be unavailable for the matches against Ireland and England because of his religious beliefs. On the evidence of the two Scottish matches to date, Murray’s limited game time this season has led to his emasculation as a scrummaging force. The scrum was in severe trouble against the French and also last Saturday against Wales until the arrival of Moray Low.

It was interesting to note the primary comment Scotland coach Andy Robinson made after the defeat to Wales was that “Moray Low did well when he came on.”

Ross conceded he has been taken aback by the problems the Scots have endured in this facet of the game.

“I am quite surprised by what has been happening to the Scottish scrum over the last couple of games and I would be expecting them to be doing some serious work to fix that. I am not expecting an easy match; Allan Jacobsen is a good player.”

Leinster are expected to confirm today Shane Horgan could return within the next fortnight having been out with a knee injury since damaging the joint against Racing Metro-92 in the Heineken Cup. Unfortunately for promising young centre Brendan Macken, he suffered a broken collar bone during the province’s Magners League victory over Aironi at the RDS last Thursday.

He has had the shoulder pinned and is expected to be out for about six weeks. Macken will miss the remainder of the Under-20 Six Nations Championship.

Munster and Connacht are at home this Friday night, Ulster travel to the Scarlets while Leinster head for Cardiff on Saturday night.

The Irish management will take in all four matches.