MAGNERS LEAGUE NEWSMUNSTER COACH Tony McGahan has made a couple of changes to the squad that beat Edinburgh on the opening weekend of the Magners League for Sunday's clash with the Newport Gwent Dragons at Musgrave Park.
John Hayes was originally expected to play against Edinburgh but withdrew before the match because of a viral infection, necessitating a quick dash for Tony Buckley to the Scottish capital.
Freddie Pucciariello started at tighthead prop. Hayes has been afforded some extra time to recuperate and has not been included for the Dragons game.
McGahan will instead choose two props to start on Sunday from Marcus Horan, Pucciariello and Buckley. The second alteration to the squad sees the return of Ireland A fullback Denis Hurley with Rua Tipoki rested for this particular match.
The Australian will confirm the composition of the starting line-up at lunchtime today and it'll be interesting to note whether Hurley will be handed the number 15 jersey. Doug Howlett was named at fullback for the 20-15 victory over Edinburgh but Keith Earls largely operated in that role during the match. Earls, who won a Grand Slam with the Ireland under-20 team playing on the wing, is an accomplished centre as he proved while playing for Ireland A in the Churchill Cup during the summer. Last weekend confirmed both his versatility and his prodigious talent.
Munster's victory in Scotland reinforced the pre-season assertion that they regarded a good start to the campaign as important. Indeed Edinburgh will act as a barometer of early Irish provincial form as they travel to the RDS to take on defending champions, Leinster.
The fact that tomorrow night's combatants will face each other in the Heineken Cup - they seem perennial adversaries in this particular competition - gives the match a little extra spice. Edinburgh coach Andy Robinson has named a 24-man squad, albeit a selection severely curtailed by a spate of injuries.
Six foot four inch wing Roland Reid underwent surgery on his knee last week and will be out for a month. He joins a treatment room full of casualties as Simon Webster (hip), Alan MacDonald (hip), David Callam (hip), Andrew Easson (head), Simon Cross (ribs) and Fraser McKenzie (back) all miss the trip to Dublin.
To the list of absentees can be added long-term injury victims Ben Cairns (knee ligament), Ross Rennie (knee), Jim Hamilton (shoulder), John Houston (pelvic) and Matt Dey (shoulder). Scottish National Academy flanker Chris Fusaro has been promoted into the first team squad after the 19-year-old impressed during a game against Leinster A at Lasswade on Monday.
Meanwhile, Connacht coach Michael Bradley has delayed naming a squad for their clash with Llanelli on Saturday because of a number of injury concerns. The match will be the final Magners League game to take place at Stradey Park before the Scarlets move to a new £23million stadium.
MUNSTER (squad v Gwent Dragons):M Horan, F Pucciariello, T Buckley, J Flannery, F Sheahan, P O'Connell (capt), D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll, D Ryan, J O'Sullivan, D Wallace, J Melck, T O'Leary, P Stringer, R O'Gara, P Warwick, K Earls, D Howlett, B Murphy, L Mafi, I Dowling, D Hurley.
EDINBURGH (squad, Leinster):A Jacobsen, K Traynor, G Cross, G Kerr, R Ford, A Kelly, C Hamilton, B Gissing, S Turnbull, M Mustchin, A Hogg, S Newlands, C Fusaro, M Blair (capt), G Laidlaw, B Meyer, P Godman, D Blair, N De Luca, C MacRae, M Robertson, A Turnbull, C Paterson, H Southwell.
