Eight new faces in Munster European squad

Rugby:Just how fast the career of Ireland scrumhalf, Conor Murray, has progressed was illustrated with the release of this season's Munster Heineken Cup squad

Murray, who was Declan Kidney’s first pick at the recent World Cup is in the Heineken Cup squad for the first time.

Also included for the first time are Munster Academy graduates wing Simon Zebo, and hooker Sean Henry along with current Academy player wing-forward Dave O’Callaghan. The squad also includes newcomers Ian Keatley, BJ Botha, Will Chambers and Development prop John Ryan.

Notable absentees are Jerry Flannery, David Wallace and Felix Jones, all front-line players ruled out through injury sustained while preparing for or participating in the Rugby World Cup.

Because of front-row injuries, John Hayes has been included for the pool stages of the competition. Darragh Hurley and Peter Borlase - both of whom are expected to resume full training in the coming weeks – could come into the squad after ERC Round 1 and 2 under ERC regulations, as is the case with Flannery.

Because of the severity of their injuries, neither Wallace nor Jones will be available to take any part in the pool stages.

The 21-year-old Youghal native Dave O’Callaghan (Dolphin) is a former Ireland Youth/U20 international and made his first appearance for Munster in the August 2009 pre-season friendly against Sale Sharks. His first competitive start was against Ospreys in the RaboDirect PRO12 game earlier this month.

Other newcomers, John Ryan (Cork Consitution) and Sean Henry (UL Bohemians) are both 23 year olds. Henry won three caps as a replacement last season while Ryan made his debut off the bench in the September RaboDirect PRO12 game against Cardiff Blues and followed that with a second, again off the bench in the game against Edinburgh in Murrayfield.

Munster Heineken Cup Squad:Scott Deasy, Doug Howlett, Denis Hurley, Johne Murphy, Simon Zebo, Danny Barnes, Will Chambers, Tom Gleeson, Keith Earls, Lifeimi Mafi, Ronan O'Gara, Ian Keatley, Tomas O'Leary, Conor Murray, Duncan Williams, Peter Stringer, Denis Fogarty, Damien Varley, Michael Sherry, Sean Henry, Marcus Horan, John Hayes, Stephen Archer, Wian du Preez, BJ Botha, John Ryan, Paul O'Connell, Donncha O'Callaghan, Michael O'Driscoll, Ian Nagle, Donnacha Ryan, Niall Ronan, Billy Holland, Tommy O'Donnell, Peter O'Mahony, Dave O'Callaghan, Denis Leamy, James Coughlan.