PROVINCES INJURY NEWS:LUKE FITZGERALD underwent a scan on a damaged hip, an injury he sustained during Leinster's 25-23 defeat of Saracens in their Heineken Cup clash at Wembley.
The initial prognosis was that he had suffered bruising to the joint but the medical team are keen to ensure there aren’t any further issues.
A more definitive prognosis will be available today when Leinster coach Joe Schmidt provides a squad update ahead of Saturday’s Magners League match against Connacht. Ireland and Leinster centre Brian O’Driscoll continues his rehabilitation from a hamstring strain sustained in the province’s opening European fixture against Racing Metro 92.
He missed the weekend’s win over Saracens – he acted as a water-boy on the day – in a playing capacity and he’d probably appreciate a game ahead of Ireland’s upcoming November Tests against South Africa, Samoa, New Zealand and Argentina.
Leinster have two matches to play before then, against Connacht at the Sportsground and the following weekend they host Edinburgh at the RDS.
Leo Cullen, a second-half replacement for Devin Toner at Wembley, showed no ill effects in his return to competitive fare for the first time since shoulder surgery during the summer.
The Irish province was further boosted as Leinster A got their British and Irish Cup campaign off to a winning start with a fine 33-28 victory over Newport at Rodney Parade. Andrew Conway grabbed a brace of tries, Paul O’Donohue another while Ian Madigan kicked 18 points.
It seems Saracens director of rugby Brendan Venter may be called upon by ERC to explain what was essentially a rant directed first at match referee Christophe Berdos and then bemoaning the general standards of officiating in the tournament. The South African maintained Berdos should have awarded 50 more penalties – presumably to his team – and doled out three more yellow cards to Leinster players.
He then turned his crosshairs on the competition organisers, a diatribe for which he may yet be called to account. ERC’s chief executive Derek McGrath explained that Venter’s comments will be investigated by the tournament governing body’s disciplinary officer, Roger O’Connor.
“We will be urgently reviewing the comments and their context to see if he has brought the tournament into disrepute,” he said.
McGrath expressed his disappointment at South African’s comments before warning: “The ERC take this issue very seriously. There is a system of communication already in place and we will be reviewing all the refereeing decisions over the first two rounds.
“Brendan was in contact with Donal Courtney, our referees performance manager, about putting together some clips (from Saracens’ defeat by Clermont Auvergne) to explain the decisions to him, but we didn’t receive the clips.”
The clips in question actually arrived in the ERC offices yesterday. Courtney will review the Wembley match – he’ll do the same for all the games – in detail. Indeed it’s part of a general review process, including logistics, disciplinary, etc, that ERC undertake after the conclusion of each two-round segment in the pool stage of the tournament.
It’s not Venter’s first brush with rugby authorities having been given a 10-match, 14-week ban by the English RFU following an altercation during a league match at Welford Road last season.
Meanwhile, Munster and Ireland hooker Jerry Flannery was due to see a specialist following the recurrence of a calf problem sustained in Saturday’s victory over Toulon at Thomond Park. A second-half replacement for Damien Varley, Flannery lasted 24 minutes before being replaced. He had returned to competitive fare for the first time this season the previous week for Shannon.
The Munster medical team reacted immediately in removing him from the pitch when he felt “a twinge”, as Varley returned to the fray. The Munster pack are due to train this afternoon ahead of this weekend’s Magners League game against Benetton Treviso but a statement on the player’s fitness is not expected before tomorrow when the squad for that match is confirmed.
Munster’s injury woe continued with the news that young Danny Barnes could be out of commission for several months after dislocating his elbow in Munster A’s 15-13 defeat to Llanelli in the British and Irish Cup.
Ireland coach Declan Kidney will announce an extended squad for the upcoming autumn Tests at lunch-time today. Depending on the medical prognosis, Fitzgerald and O’Driscoll could be included, Flannery might be while Stephen Ferris will, having proved his fitness on a try-scoring return for Ulster in their 35-15 defeat to Biarritz at the weekend.
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