McGahan able to call on Earls

Rugby – squad news:Lifeimi Mafi has picked up a seven week ban for his dangerous tackle on Gordon D'Arcy but Munster coach Tony McGahan has been bolstered by the news that Keith Earls is available for selection for the opening round of the Heineken Cup.

Mafi went before an IRFU disciplinary panel at Ravenhill today for his dangerous high tackle on D’Arcy during the Magners League provincial derby at the Aviva Stadium last weekend.

Although Mafi has the right of appeal he is currently ruled out of Saturday’s Pool 3 meeting with London Irish plus the visit to Thomond Park of Toulon the following Saturday. He will also miss three Magners League games, including the derby against Ulster at Ravenhill on Friday, October 29th

With options thin on the ground – Felix Jones and Ian Dowling are already on the long-term injury list - Earls recovery from an ankle problem could not be more timely for McGahan and his management team.

Earls, yet to feature this campaign, has been back in training since the start of last week but lacked the necessary sharpness to start against Leinster. But the versatile Ireland international will provide a cutting edge Munster have been lacking this term for the Exiles’ visit to Limerick.

Tony Buckley has recovered from the stomach bug that kept him on the sidelines in Dublin 4 while the likes of David Wallace and Marcus Horan will be champing at the bit to start after being named among the replacements against Leinster.

Brian McLaughlin has been able to call on the services of BJ Botha ahead of Ulster’s opener against Aironi at Ravenhill on Friday night (kick-off 7.30pm).

The Springbok prop has been sidelined since injuring his wrist during the Magners League draw with Connacht at the Sportsground almost a fortnight ago. In the same game Stephen Ferris picked up a shoulder injury but his road to recovery will take longer and is unavailable to face the Italians on Friday.

The Ulster coach named a 27-man squad today and will finalise his match day 22 later in the week. After a great start to the Magners League (four wins and a draw) Ulster will look to hit the ground running and take the early season form into their opening Pool 4 encounter. The following weekend they travel to France to take on Biarritz with Bath the other opponents in the group.

Leinster have yet to name their squad for their first-ever meeting with Racing Metro, but will have been heartened by the news emanating from the French capital. Francois Steyn missed training this morning, with the Racing management refusing to give specifics, and is considered a doubt for Saturday’s match at the RDS.

The South African fullback has been instrumental in Racing’s rise to the summit of the Top 14 and will be sorely missed should he fail to travel. Racing’s Argentine superstar Juan Martin Hernandez is still not back in training while Benjamin Fall and Jonathan Wizniewski missed today’s session.

Munster squad(v London Irish): W Du Preez, M Horan, M Sherry, D Varley, J Hayes, Darragh Hurley, T Buckley, B Holland, D Ryan, D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll, A Quinlan, D Wallace, N Ronan, D Leamy, P O'Mahony, J Coughlan, T O'Leary, D Williams, P Stringer, R O'Gara, S Deasy, P Warwick, D Barnes, K Earls, L Mafi, J Murphy, S Tuitupou, D Howlett, Denis Hurley.

Ulster squad(v Aironi): T Court, P McAllister, B Young, BJ Botha, R Best, N Brady, A Kyriacou, T Barker, J Muller, R Caldwell, D Tuohy, W Faloon, R Diack, P Wannenburg, C Henry. D McIlwaine, J Smith, S Danielli, A Trimble, D Cave, I Whitten, P Wallace, I Humphreys, N O'Connor, R Pienaar, P Marshall, I Porter