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O'Connell returns to captain Munster Results of IRFU Disciplinary Hearings Suspended Jennings to miss Wasps showdown 5,000 tickets remain for the Heineken Cup clash Wasps v Leinster Wasps and Leinster set for bumper crowd Ulster's future suddenly looks good Business as usual says Williams as he returns to Scotland Ulster coach defends players Rob Dewey set for Scotland return Pack attack: why Munster must front up Lynch slams Ulster branch Across The Gain Line Belfast Telegraph guide to Rugby Schools' Cup Prop Bracken leaves Bristol Rugby Ospreys bid to bring Scott Johnson back to Wales Ospreys coach blasts back at Jonathan Davies WRU chief urges fans to savour Scarlets stadium Regions and WRU strike an accord SRU playing figures on the up Scottish rugby ushers in a boom time White on his way to France England lock stock and rocked after shoulder op rules out Wasps star Palmer Sheridan and Tait boost for Sharks Saracens to tap into 'Saffa' fan base Tri-Nations dream moves closer for Argentina Powerful axis of support will push ELVs into fruition Help support Rugby's Olympic campaign O'Connell returns to captain Munster The Irish Times Munster coach Tony McGahan was able to call on several experienced campaigners ahead of the top of the table clash with Magners League leaders Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium tomorrow night. Captain Paul O'Connell, backrow Denis Leamy and scrumhalf Tomás O'Leary all make welcome returns to the starting XV after they sat out Munster's shock 11-37 defeat to Ulster at Thomond Park last weekend. O'Connell has recovered from a knee injury, while Leamy returns after he injured his shoulder during Munster's epic encounter against the All Blacks in Thomond Park in November. Fellow internationals David Wallace and Ian Dowling are also named but there is no place in the starting line-up for prop Marcus Horan or Keith Earls. Both were suffering from a stomach bug this week. Ronan O'Gara lasted little over 15 minutes against Ulster before he was taken off with a hamstring injury. He was left out of the squad in the hope of recovering in time for the Heineken Cup game against Sale on January 16th. Paul Warwick, who replaced O'Gara in the Ulster game, starts at outhalf in place of the Ireland international. Other notable absentees include Rua Tipoki, who injured his hamstring last week and James Coughlan, who hurt his shoulder. Both are considered long-term injuries and the two are likely to miss the final two games of Munster's Heineken Cup pool phase. Munster have lost their last two Magners League outings but find themselves just one point adrift of tomorrow's opponents in second place. Matt Williams also named his Ulster XV to take on Edinburgh at Murrayfield tomorrow night. The coach has made four changes from the starting line-up that secured the memorable bonus point win against Munster. Mark McCrea replaces Timoci Nagusa, who picked up an ankle injury in Limerick. David Pollock comes off the bench and starts in place of last week's captain Kieron Dawson, who starts from the bench in Edinburgh. Captain Rory Best returns to the front-row, while Nigel Brady, who replaced the hooker last week, is named on the bench. "My heart rate won't change," said Williams. "We'll walk through the door and go out and do what we have to do. It's not about me, it's about the boys. Edinburgh are a powerful team of great professionals, and we will give them the respect they deserve. The bad news for our opposition is that there were so many aspects of our game I wasn't happy with on Saturday night. We can improve a lot in three or four areas, tactical and technically." "We're in a really positive frame of mind and we have to take that on the road, but that shouldn't be a worry for us and there is no reason why we can't win away from home. We proved that at Thomond Park," added Williams. "Before it was just about convincing people and now we have got the proof. We threw points away earlier in the year and now it is up to us to get them back. If we can win on Friday its incredible how close to the top of the table we can come. So we're going to give it a go". Ulster currently trail Edinburgh by one point in the table but the last time they met in October Ulster won 13-9. Elsewhere Michael Bradley has made five changes to the Connacht line-up ahead of the Scarlets' visit to the Sportsground tomorrow night. Gavin Duffy has recovered from a hamstring injury and starts at fullback, while Keith Matthews returns to inside centre having overcome a bout of flu. Up front, Brett Wilkinson and Sean Cronin both return to the front-row, with Ray Ofisa starting at openside flanker having also recovered from injury. Tim Donnelly (knee), Johnny O'Connor (calf) and Aidan Wynne (ankle) were not considered due to injury. The Scarlets made a late change to their team this afternoon after Simon Maling tweaked his hamstring today. He will be replaced by Vernon Cooper and French triallist Yannick N'Gog (wing) comes onto the bench. Munster : D Hurley; D Howlett, B Murphy, L Mafi, I Dowling; P Warwick, T O'Leary; F Pucciariello, J Flannery, J Hayes; D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell (C); A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy. Replacements: D Fogarty, T Ryan, M O'Driscoll, J O'Sullivan, P Stringer, C Doyle, T Gleeson. Ospreys : L Byrne; J Vaughton, S Parker, A Bishop, S Williams, J Hook; M Phillips, F Tiatia, S Tandy, T Smith; J Thomas, A Jones, C Griffiths, R Hibbard; P James (C) Replacements: H Bennett, R Bevington, L Bateman, M Holah, R Webb, D Biggar, K Phillips Ulster : T Court, R Best (C), BJ Botha, E O'Donoghue, M McCullough, S Ferris, D Pollock, R Diack, C Schifcofske; A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, M McCrea, I Humphreys, I Boss Replacements: N Brady, J Fitzpatrick, F Paulo, K Dawson, P Marshall, P Steinmetz, B Cunningham Connacht : G Duffy; F Carr; N Ta'auso, K Matthews, L Bibo; I Keatley, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, S Cronin, R Morris; M McCarthy, A Farley; J Muldoon (C), R Ofisa, C Rigney. Replacements: A Flavin, R Loughney, M Swift, A Browne, K Campbell, A Dunne, M Deane. Scarlets: M Stoddart, D Daniel, R King, J Davies, G Morris, R Priestland, M Roberts; P John, M Rees, D Manu, D Day, V Cooper, S Easterby (c), J Edwards, D Lyons Replacements: I Thomas, K Owens, L Reed, G Cattle, D Jones, S Jones, Y N'Gog Results of IRFU Disciplinary Hearings www.IrishRugby.ie <http://www.irishrugby.ie/> The Irish Rugby Football Union Disciplinary Panel met today (Tuesday, January 6) to consider three separate citing complaints arising from the recent Leinster v Connacht and Munster v Ulster Magners League games. Leinster flanker Shane Jennings and Leinster hooker John Fogarty were cited for punching during the Leinster v Connacht game under law 10.4 (a). The citing against Shane Jennings was upheld and the player received a three week suspension which will end at midnight on Tuesday, January 27, 2009. The citing against John Fogarty was upheld and the player received a one week suspension which will end at midnight on Tuesday, January 13. Munster prop Federico Pucciariello was cited for kicking during the Munster v Ulster game under laws 10.4 (c) and 10.4 (k). The citing against Federico Pucciariello was upheld, but the disciplinary panel did not feel that the exact incident would have warranted a red card during the game, so no suspension was given to the player and he is free to play. Suspended Jennings to miss Wasps showdown Johnny Watterson - The Irish Times Ireland and Leinster flanker Shane Jennings will miss his side's critical round five Heineken Cup Pool match against London Wasps on January 17th and the final pool game in Dublin against Edinburgh seven days later following last night's IRFU Disciplinary Panel decision. Jennings was cited for punching during Leinster's win over Connacht in the Magners League last Friday night at the RDS, Dublin. The citing was upheld by the Disciplinary Panel and the player received a three weeks' suspension which will end at midnight, Tuesday, January 27th, two days after Leinster's final pool fixture. Depending on the outcome of both matches, it could mean that the Irish backrower might miss Leinster's remaining Heineken Cup games in this season's competition. While Jennings received a punitive and costly suspension, his front-row colleague John Fogarty, who was also prosecuted under the law governing punching, 10.4, received just a one-week forced lay off. Fogarty's ban will therefore end on midnight, Tuesday the 13th, which is several days before Leinster travel to Twickenham for a match that, if they can win, would propel them into the quarter-finals of the competition. He will however miss this week's Magners League match. Munster prop Freddie Pucciariello was also cited for kicking during Munster's shock defeat to Ulster in Thomond Park last week. The front-row was deemed to have breached laws 10.4 (c) and 10.4 (k) and the citing was upheld. However, the disciplinary panel did not feel that the exact incident would have warranted a red card during the game, so no suspension was given to the player and he is available to play this week in Munster's top-of-the-table Magners League clash away to the Ospreys on Friday night. It is believed Jennings' breach of the rules occurred in an off-the-ball incident, while Fogarty's indiscretion was in reaction to foul play perpetrated on him and although he was seen by most of the 16,000 strong crowd at the RDS to have thrown a number of punches in retaliation, it is understood that no subsequent injury resulted to any Connacht player. For coach Michael Cheika, Fogarty's relative escape is a blessing, while Jennings' forced rest is a clear blow to Leinster fielding their strongest team. The only glimmer of light in Jennings missing out on what is Leinster's biggest match of the season is Cheika has some quality back row cover at his disposal. Although players such as 21-year-old Seán O'Brien are inexperienced at the higher level of Heineken Cup competition, his performances for Leinster, when given the chance, have been highly impressive, both in his ball-carrying ability, running and in the contact area. Had Fogarty been suspended for the Heineken Cup meeting with Wasps, Leinster may have had something of a crisis at hooker. Bernard Jackman is currently recovering from knee problems and hopes to be available for the fifth round match but at this stage it is far from certain he will have recovered sufficiently to even make it to London as a bench player. Brian Blaney would have been the obvious cover but a bench hooker might have been a problem for Cheika. Indeed South African prop and hooker, 35-year-old Ollie Le Roux, who is back in South Africa (ostensibly to manage his sizeable family chicken ranch), remains registered for Leinster in the Heineken Cup and might have been the first choice back-up if Fogarty had received a three-week ban. Last week's back row against Connacht consisted of Australian Rocky Elsom at blind side flanker, Jennings at open side flanker and Stephen Keogh at number eight. Regular number eight, Jamie Heaslip, was being rested and O'Brien came off the bench as a second half replacement. There was no comment from Leinster officials last night but there is an appeal process available if they wish to go down that road. 5,000 tickets remain for the Heineken Cup clash Wasps v Leinster London Wasps have confirmed sales of 25,000 tickets for the Heineken Cup Pool 2 Round 5 game, between the English and Irish champions. Wasps and Leinster, go head to head in a do or die game at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday 17 January, KO 5.35pm. This Round 5 clash will prove vital to Wasps' qualification hopes in this seasons' Heineken Cup and interest and sales have been strong since the outset. Opening the lower bowl only for this New Year clash, with a capacity of 30,000, just 5,000 tickets remain. Wasps and Leinster set for bumper crowd Barry Coughlan - Irish Examiner More than 20,000 tickets have been sold for Leinster's Heineken Cup clash against London Wasps at Twickenham on Saturday week. He said yesterday: "We are delighted to cross the 20,000 mark. There is clearly a great interest in this game, and by taking it to Twickenham we know that both Wasps and Leinster supporters can enjoy a huge rugby occasion. Club rugby is very strong at the moment - the support that has been seen for the big games highlights the strength in our sport, and it is very encouraging." Twickenham will become the fourth national stadium to stage Heineken Cup pool action this season - for a match that will surely have a major bearing on quarter-final qualification. Leinster are three points clear of the two-time Heineken Cup champions in pool two, and Wasps will need the points from the crunch clash to stay in the hunt. Copsey, realising that Leinster can bank on growing support for away games and, perhaps, on the huge Irish population in the greater London area to lend a hand, is appealing to all Wasps fans to turn up. "It's going to be a really good rugby day out, the ticket prices are competitive and we will need all the support we can get against one of the best and strongest teams in the competition," he said. Murrayfield - venue for the 2009 Heineken Cup final on May 23 - the Millennium Stadium and Stade de France have all hosted pool matches already this season, with over 600,000 fans having gone through the turnstiles for the 48 matches played in the opening four rounds. Three teams, treble champions Toulouse, Harlequins and Cardiff Blues have made it four from four to head their groups with two matches to come. The big one in pool six is the Cardiff Blues' trip to Kingsholm to face Gloucester. The Welsh region are four points ahead with each team having also banked two bonus points. But Harlequins have the biggest lead of any pool leader, a commanding six points over Stade Français after Nick Evans clinched back-to-back victories over the French giants in one of the most pulsating finishes in the rich history of the tournament. Toulouse - who will play their 100th Heineken Cup match when they travel to 1998 champions Bath in round six - are two points clear of the English club. The Recreation Ground clash possibly holds the key to the ultimate group honours. Meanwhile, advance sales for the Edinburgh final have gone through the 35,500 mark with less than 10,000 left in the public allocation of tickets. ERC retain 15,000 tickets for the finalists to share. Ulster's future suddenly looks good Tyrone Howe - Belfast Telegraph Magnificent. Absolutely magnificent. Ulster emerging out of a long dark tunnel into the light? More like exploding into 2009 with a result that left even the most ardent of Ulster supporters rubbing their eyes in disbelief. This was the best eighty minute performance, I believe, since Ulster thumped the Leicester Tigers 33-0 almost four years ago to the day. However, last weekend's victory was arguably an even greater achievement, given that it took place away from the comforts of Ravenhill. On that occasion Leicester's formidable leader, Martin Johnson, started on the bench only to come on when the game was well beyond the Tigers. Similarly, the void created by Paul O'Connell's absence was surprisingly striking. However, this should not in any way detract from Ulster's achievements. Let us not forget that Ulster also had players missing. Captain, Rory Best, made a late appearance from the bench but took over from a man whose own display personified the collective performance. Nigel Brady, as reserve hooker, probably knows that in any one season he will only get a handful of opportunities, but his performance, in terms of set piece play and contribution around the pitch, was absolutely top notch. He is a tough nuggety character who works tirelessly without complaint, and in years to come, last Saturday will be up there with his own career highlights. The main players in a team can only succeed with a quality supporting cast, and in Brady you have exactly the sort of guy you need in a squad. There were several striking features about Ulster's performance. Firstly, the fact that it lasted for the full eighty minutes. Rather than losing focus, the bonus point try early in the second half was effectively the sucker punch to an already reeling Munster side. Secondly, not only did the defensive line hold firm, Ulster also dominated the close exchanges. Thirdly, the tries themselves. Who would have believed at the start of the season that Ulster would now be scoring tries for fun! Each one had its own script but contained no shortage of individual skill. Even Tom Court's short-range effort displayed the strength and power of the man to simply lift Donnacha O'Callaghan back and over the line to dot the ball down. Finally, most striking was the attitude, confidence and intensity with which Ulster went about the game. Invariably, when things go well, players get the credit and when things go badly, the coach gets it in the neck. High time, then, that coach, Matt Williams, gets a well-earned pat on the back. He has managed to keep confidence and squad spirit high throughout the low moments and, crucially, has imbued his young squad with a fearlessness both in defence and attack which is now paying dividends. When he took over, Ulster rugby was in a shambles and, in difficult circumstances, he has done a good job. Last week I stated that to beat Munster at Thomond Park would be worth a lot more than just Magners League points, and such is the case. Not only has the result put Ulster rugby back on the European rugby map, for certain players it could and should have an immediate impact. Ian Humphreys has now rocketed himself into pole position to be the young gun behind Ronan O'Gara, while Darren Cave is surely the form number thirteen in Ireland. It also would be hard to deny that he and Paddy Wallace now offer the best centre partnership. In the pack, Tom Court's ability to excel on both sides of the scrum will surely make him indispensable to Ireland in the near future. Rugby success owes a lot to timing and opportunity, and to play so consistently well leading into the Six Nations undoubtedly creates a few selection dilemmas for Declan Kidney. If we were in the Southern Hemisphere, Humphreys, Cave and Court would be immediately brought into the senior international squad. If Kidney is true to his word of selecting on form, it will be nothing short of a disgrace if these players do not make his squad. With the opening match at home against France, experience will take priority, and rightly so for such a big game, but lose it, and you have the perfect opportunity to blood young players who represent the future of Irish rugby. How exciting that some of those individuals are Ulster players. The life of a professional rugby player means that you cannot afford to bask in glory for too long, as the cliché is so true - you are only as good as your last game. So it's back down to earth for Ulster and the completely different but now equally testing challenge is to overcome an empty Murrayfield rather than a throbbing Thomond. However, the rest of us will savour last weekend for a long time to come. Business as usual says Williams as he returns to Scotland Kevin Ferrie - The Herald Matt Williams says he will treat Friday's match against Edinburgh at Murrayfield as just another game when he brings his high-flying Ulster side back to the scene of the most difficult experience of his rugby career. The Australian will make his first competitive return to Scotland at the venue where he was on the winning side just once in two seasons as Scotland coach before being sacked four years ago. The national side won just three of 17 matches under his charge. Since his return to European rugby last February as head coach of Ulster, he has taken time to generate momentum, winning just five of his first 16 games and losing six of this season's first seven. They have turned a corner recently, though, losing just one of their last six. Their 37-11 weekend win at Munster was the shock of the season so far as they inflicted the European champions' first defeat at Thomond Park by a rival Irish province since 1995. Williams could be forgiven for feeling bullish, but is insists it will be business as usual. "My heart rate won't change. We'll walk through the door and go out and do what we have to do. It's not about me, it's about the boys," he said. "The bad news for our opposition was that there were so many aspects of our game I wasn't happy with on Saturday night. We can improve a lot in three or four areas, tactical and technically. We're in a really positive frame of mind and we have to take that on the road, but that shouldn't be a worry for us and there is no reason why we can't win away from home. We proved that the other day. Before it was just about convincing people and now we have got the proof. We threw points away earlier in the year and now it is up to us to get them back. If we can win on Friday it's incredible how close to the top of the table we can come. So we're going to give it a go." Edinburgh's Mark Robertson will be out of action until next month because he needs an operation on his groin. The 24-year-old Scotland A winger suffered the problem last season and it sidelined him until the final game of the campaign before he established himself as a regular this term. Its recurrence forced him out of the first match of the double-header with Glasgow Warriors but he played in Friday's return at Firhill before the decision was made for him to undergo surgery. Ryan Grant, his 23-year-old club-mate, has suffered a similar setback and will also undergo an operation. Ulster coach defends players News Letter Ulster coach, Matt Williams, defended his players who were sin-binned against Munster last Saturday night. Matt McCullough and Kieron Dawson were both yellow carded for separate offences during the 37-11 win over Munster, but Williams said the officials were "incorrect." Williams claimed that lock McCullough, who will face a one-match suspension if he receives another yellow card during the Magners League, was assaulted and he felt "very sorry for him". Ulster were in the process of scoring a try when the cameras panned back to see McCullough pinned under Munster prop, Freddie Pucciariello and appeared to be punching the Ulster lock. Lewis, on the advice of the assistant referee, yellow carded both players. Williams said: "I have to be careful what I say, but Matt was attacked and defended himself. he did not even throw a punch. I thought the officials handled it very poorly. What happened was quite extraordinary, but if it had happened on the street the guy would go to jail for it. I do chew the guys out when they get sin-binned, but we have a reputation as a team that is easy to sin-bin and we have to change that. But I am very tough on guys who are sin-binned. To be fair a try was being scored and everyone was watching that process. The cameras followed the try as well. But we have watched the tapes and for Matt to be sin-binned in that way was unfair. I felt very sorry for him because he was assaulted. Matt is now on his second yellow card and if he gets a third then he loses a match. That makes it even tougher on him." Pucciariello was cited by the independent citing commissioner for kicking during the game under laws 10.4 (c) and 10.4 (k), but a disciplinary panel in Dublin on Tuesday, while upholding the citing complaint, 'did not feel the exact incident would have warranted a red card during the game, so no suspension was given and the player is free to play.' The News Letter understand this relates to a different incident from that involving McCullough. Meanwhile, Kieron Dawson was sin-binned towards the end of the game for what Lewis termed a 'professional foul' in that he deliberately came in from an offside position. Williams said: "We have again watched the tapes and Kieron was onside when he was sin-binned. He raced up to stop and tackle and the tape shows he was well and truly onside." The Ulster coach added: "We were pleased with the refereeing on Saturday. But those two incidents were incorrect. It is interesting to note that when we do get a top line referee like Alan Lewis or Alan Roland, we have always played very well. It was great to have Lewis out there on Saturday." Rob Dewey set for Scotland return Lewis Stuart - The Times Rob Dewey, the Scotland World Cup centre, could be on his way back home this summer, though whether Edinburgh or Glasgow will win the race to sign him is far from certain. Yesterday, Andy Robinson, the Edinburgh coach, confirmed that Scottish Rugby officials are interested in talking to the player about returning from Ulster. Of more immediate concern, Scotland could be without Matt Mustchin, the lock who won his first caps in the summer, for the Six Nations Championship when it starts next month. He has been carrying an ankle injury since the end of last season - he postponed the operation to win his caps against Argentina and then fight for a place in the autumn internationals - and aggravated the injury last week playing for Edinburgh against Glasgow. A full medical assessment will not be possible before next week, but it looks likely that he will not be able to put off the surgery any longer. He is among a raft of changes in the Edinburgh side as injuries take their toll and Robinson tries to freshen up the team for the visit of Ulster tomorrow night after their defeat in Glasgow last week. Nick De Luca, the centre, and Scott Newlands, the flanker, have been dropped while Mustchin, Mark Robertson and Alan MacDonald are ruled out by injury. Axing De Luca means there is now little chance of him going head-to-head against Dewey, the man whose international place he won during the autumn, and the subject of all this speculation about his future. "There will be some discussions going on with Rob [Dewey] to bring him back - if he is keen to come back - to the SRU," Robinson admitted. The player is likely to want to come back to Scotland, both for personal reasons and because he has failed to secure a regular place in the Ulster team, which he joined from Edinburgh during the period when the club was independently owned. There have been persistent reports, however, that if he does return, it will be to join Glasgow rather than his old club. The team from the west spent a good chunk of this season hunting for a centre to replace Daryl Gibson and failed to find anybody suitable. Dewey would certainly fit that bill, and the reports linking him with Glasgow have been circulating since Christmas. Robinson did nothing to debunk the idea yesterday, while admitting that his team has struggled with midfield injuries and have paid a penalty for it, culminating in a below-par performance from De Luca in his sixteenth consecutive game this season. There was no attempt to cover his blushes by pretending he was being rested, though - a case that would have made perfect sense because De Luca has played all 13 games for Edinburgh as well as the three autumn internationals for Scotland. "I thought Nick underperformed last week," Robinson said. "We have got to look at reasons why and we are approaching this game in a different way. We are saying, ‘Step away this week, come off the bench and perform from there.'" The move also allows him to field John Houston, the club's find of last season who missed the early part of this campaign, in his best position and with a brief to give the job a more physical edge than De Luca typically brings to the role. The centre swap is one of a number of changes in the Edinburgh side, including a new-look back row in which Roddy Grant, the Botswana-born grandson of Bob Burrell, the former international referee from Gala, gets his first start as the club struggle to find specialist openside flankers. The Scotland Sevens captain has been linked with Glasgow all season, and has been playing his club rugby at West of Scotland, but as a member of the National Academy he is available to both clubs. With Ross Rennie out of action for the season and MacDonald rested after another blow on the head - the club say he is not concussed but they thought it wise to give him another week to recover - they needed a specialist openside, and after impressing playing against Edinburgh in development games earlier in the season, Grant won the place. "He is not registered to play in the Heineken Cup next week, so we felt this was the right time to get him involved," Robinson said. "The way he has trained was really good. He is a player of very good ability and it is right that he should be able to showcase his skills in this game. He played two back-up games against us and was a real nuisance." Edinburgh: H Southwell; A Turnbull, B Cairns, J Houston, S Webster; P Godman, M Blair (capt); A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Cross, C Hamilton , J Hamilton, S Cross, R Grant, A Hogg. Replacements: A Kelly, G Kerr, B Gissing, S Newlands, G Laidlaw, D Blair, N De Luca. Pack attack: why Munster must front up Donal Lenihan - Irish Examiner It was difficult to comprehend the contrasting  |
