Rugby News: Connacht and Munster have formally asked Leinster about the availability of the province's Argentinian outhalf Felipe Contepomi, who could then be named as one of their two additional players for the remaining knock-out stages of their respective Parker Pen European Challenge Cup and Heineken European Cup campaigns.
Furthermore, Leinster, who failed to register Contepomi properly, would have no Celtic League games on those weekends, and thus do not appear against the idea in principle. However, they may now have the tricky dilemma of deciding which of their fellow provinces should be granted the favour, on top of which the Puma outhalf is on crutches after undergoing an ankle operation the week before last and is still three to four weeks away from a full recovery.
The deadline for these additional registrations is March 19th, with ERC rules also allowing for an extra front-row forward to be named, and Connacht have already been successful in obtaining permission from Ulster to add their former prop Ronnie McCormack.
It is expected that Munster will name Alan Quinlan as one of their two additional players. Quinlan is recovering well from his shoulder operations.
Connacht play Harlequins in the two-legged semi-finals of the Challenge Cup on the weekends of April 10th/11th and 24th/25th, with the second leg at home.
Mindful of the attendance of 4,000 for their quarter-final, second-leg win over Narbonne at the Sportsground, the Connacht chief executive, Gerry Kelly, will meet builders today to begin exploring the possiblity of installing temporary seating for that home leg against Harlequins.
