Best to get game time with Ulster

RUGBY NEWS:IRELAND COACH Declan Kidney will release Rory Best to play in tomorrow night's Magners League match against Edinburgh at Ravenhill.

The Ulster hooker is likely to start for Ireland in the Six Nations Championship clash against England at Twickenham on Saturday week after first-choice Jerry Flannery was given a six-week suspension for an incident during last Saturday’s game in Paris involving French wing Alexis Palisson.

Best was named in the Ulster squad on Tuesday but coach, Brian McLaughlin was unsure whether the player would be available to him pending the outcome of the Flannery hearing.

In essence Kidney had to weigh up whether to risk a potential injury to Best eight days before the England game or give the hooker valuable game time.

Since undergoing a neck operation during the summer, Best’s rehabilitation has been stunning in terms of the timescale as the initial prognosis was that he would miss the entire season.

He played 40 minutes for Banbridge in the All-Ireland League, started for Ireland A against the England Saxons in Bath before being replaced at half-time, was introduced for Flannery against Italy at Croke Park on 56 minutes and the same change was made in Paris at the weekend after 61 minutes.There’s no doubt that Best would benefit from pitch time against Edinburgh.

The Ulsterman paid tribute to the work of the provincial medical team in fast-tracking his return. “They helped me to build up my fitness again gradually and made sure that the shoulder was capable of withstanding the necessary pressure before I played any games. They were all fantastic, gave up a lot of their time and I owe a lot to them.

“I always hoped to return before the end of this season but you always like to give yourself a little more time in case things don’t go 100 per cent to plan.

“My goal was to perhaps be involved before the end of the Six Nations, so it is great to have been able to come on as a replacement in the opening two games against Italy and France.

“When I had the surgery I realised that I had come close to never playing again, but then you start to take the positives from the situation. The whole recovery period was physically challenging, but also mentally challenging, and I have had to work hard to get my strength back.”

He pointed out that he didn’t want to get an opportunity on the back of Flannery’s misfortune but that’s exactly the way it has panned out. The Ireland squad trained yesterday afternoon in Cork and better news for Kidney was that Brian O’Driscoll and Donncha O’Callaghan both took a full part.

The Ireland captain suffered bruising to a bone and a twisted knee during the French match while O’Callaghan has yet to be available for selection in the Six Nations after sustaining knee ligament damage in a European Cup match against Northampton in January.

Leo Cullen (ankle), Stephen Ferris (knee), John Hayes (head), Rob Kearney (knee) and Tom Court (ribs) sat out the session. Kearney has begun gentle rehabilitation for the knee injury that saw his early departure from the game in Paris and remains doubtful for the England clash at Twickenham.

A better appreciation of his recovery period may be gleaned over the next few days. Court has been withdrawn from the Ulster squad for the Edinburgh match so as to allow sore ribs to heal properly. At this point Kearney remains the main doubt.

Connacht hooker Seán Cronin trained with the Ireland squad and will do so once again today. The squad will break up this evening before reconvening on Sunday.

CONNACHT(Squad v Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium): L Bibo, F Carr, K Campbell, S Cronin, G Duffy, A Flavin, J Hagan, I Keatley, K Matthews, M McCarthy, M McComish, R Morris, F Murphy, J Muldoon, G Naoupu, T Nathan, M Nikora, R Ofisa, J O'Connor, C O'Loughlin, M Swift, N Ta'auso, B Upton, B Wilkinson, A Wynne.