Henderson returns for Munster

Although he may play a peripheral role this weekend in Munster's Celtic League title assault, Irish coach Eddie O'Sullivan will watch with interest the contribution of centre Rob Henderson.

O'Sullivan's likely view is that between the Six Nations and World Cup this will be a long and fraught international season.

The return of Henderson to the 23-man Munster squad comes as no surprise, as the Ireland and Lions player lined out for Young Munster last weekend and came through unscathed. Whether he will play against Neath at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday has yet to be decided as coach Alan Gaffney will name his starting team today. And who would bet against Gaffney sticking with the group of players who dismembered Gloucester in Thomond Park last Saturday week.

To that end, Munster have named the same 22-man squad plus Henderson, with openside flanker David Wallace, who also played on Saturday for Garryowen, not included. Wallace has just made a long-awaited return from a serious shoulder injury and it is no surprise that the Munster management have opted to give him more recovery time.

For Henderson, it is the first time he has been seriously involved with Munster since he hurt his bicep playing against Gloucester in their first meeting last October. The freak injury came just as he was getting over another problem, but with just two weeks to Ireland's first Six Nations game against Wales the return is timely.

"We would have liked to have brought our full squad but the players not involved in the final will be involved with their clubs in the AIB League," said Gaffney. "Neath are a very tough side, strong in the set-piece, good halves, Williams on the wing, Durston at full back - good players throughout. You only have to look at their results.

"We'll treat them with the very height of respect, and so we should. We just have to go ahead and do the job we know we have to do, and of course we'd love to come home with some silverware but again that's the result, not the process.

"This is a final, it's away from home, and although it's not strictly a home venue for them, it's the next best thing."

On another front, the escalation of the dispute between Leicester and Munster over the English club's allocation of just 1,000 tickets for the European Cup quarter-final continues. In response to a statement from Leicester regarding the tickets and the Welford Road venue, Munster chief executive Garrett Fitzgerald has written to Leicester informing them that the province will be ignoring the declaration and intend to take up their full entitlement of 25 per cent of all ticket categories.

"We have had no official communication from Leicester Tigers or ERC Ltd with regard to the venue for our Heineken Cup quarter-final tie," he said in a statement. "However, we understand that the official Leicester website states that the game will be held in Welford Road.

"We further understand that Leicester have indicated they will allocate 1,000 tickets for Munster supporters. The Heineken Cup participation agreement signed by all participants entitles the visiting team to 25 per cent of all ticket categories and Munster have written to Leicester Tigers informing them that they will be taking up their full entitlement as per the agreement."

Meanwhile, Alan Solomons' side for Ulster's interprovincial match against Leinster tomorrow shows three changes from the starting line-up that defeated Northampton almost two weeks ago at Ravenhill. Hoping to bring more pace to the wing, Solomons has moved Ryan Constable out wide, with Shane Stewart and Adam Larkin forming the centre partnership. Stewart has moved to his preferred position of outside centre.

Justin Fitzpatrick and Paul Shields have been named on the bench, but Solomons has said they will get game time in a bid to make an impression.

Leinster, too, are treating the game seriously and all of the squad's international players have been asked to take part by the Irish management. The team will be announced today, although injured full-back Girvan Dempsey is unlikely to take part.

ULSTER: B Cunningham; J Topping, S Stewart, A Larkin, R Constable; D Humphreys, N Doak, R Kempson, M Sexton, S Best, G Longwell, J Davidson, A Ward (cap), N McMillan, T McWhirter. Replacements: J Fitzpatrick, P Shields, M Blair, R Nelson, K Campbell, S Coulter, S Young

MUNSTER SQUAD: J Staunton, J Kelly, M Mullins, J Holland, K Keane, R Henderson, M Lawlor; R O'Gara, P Stringer, M Prendergast, M Horan, M Cahill, F Sheahan, J Blaney, J Hayes; M O'Driscoll, D O'Callaghan, M Galwey, J Williams, A Quinlan, A Foley, D Leamy, C McMahon.