Blaney exonerated but Leinster injuries a worry

Leinster coach Michael Cheika will be hoping his medical team can provide an unexpected fillip ahead of Saturday's opening European Cup match against Gloucester at Lansdowne Road. He named an extended squad of 27, confirming the concerns over Cameron Jowitt, Chris Whitaker and Will Green.

One tiny respite on a day of uncertainty was the presence of hooker Brian Blaney in the squad. The 23-year-old was cleared by an IRFU disciplinary committee following a hearing on Tuesday night. It arose from a complaint made by referee Simon McDowell following Leinster's win over Munster in a Magners League game at Lansdowne Road.

Both Blaney and McDowell attended the disciplinary hearing, after which the panel ruled the player had no case to answer.

Cheika said, "I am delighted he is available to us because he has a significant contribution to make."

The Australian, in his second season in charge of the province, confirmed a decision on the three players would be taken by this evening: "I feel that we still have a pretty good squad, but at some stage we have to draw a line in the sand to decide if these guys will play. For such a big game you don't want players going in with the minimum preparation."

Whitaker hasn't played since suffering a trapped nerve in a shoulder against Connacht, missing Leinster's last two matches.

The prognosis is less than upbeat, Cheika admitted: "If we were to pick today we would have to say no - Chris would not be available for selection. But we have got time to wait.

"He's an experienced campaigner and we'd like to have him in the 22 for the match. We'll see how he comes up."

It seems likely Cillian Willis will get the number nine jersey, with flanker Niall Ronan or outhalf Andy Dunne being asked to cover scrumhalf on the bench.

Green has suffered with a neck and back problem for some time but has played through the pain barrier and will probably be asked to do so again. The alternative would be for Ronan McCormack or Harry Vermaas to start at tighthead prop.

Cheika tried to remain upbeat: "We've copped a bit of flak about our scrum but we'd be pretty confident the way it's going this year. We understand the challenges in front of us, we have seen Gloucester play and the word coming from the UK is that they are pretty confident about coming over here.

"Dean Ryan, the coach, would take great pride in their pack and they play the game very hard up front. It's going to be about building the right strategy over the next few days and implementing it on the day. I have been happy with the way things have been going.

"Having a home game first, I saw the boost that having a huge support gave us at the Munster game and hopefully we will have a similar crowd on Saturday. Every try will count, and because of that we have got to take advantage of playing at home in the first round.

"We didn't do that last year in round one and we had to push ourselves to the edge. This is a massive game for us and we have to take that opportunity."

Two Leinster players who hope to make it a particularly special weekend are secondrow Malcolm O'Kelly and fullback Girvan Dempsey, both of whom are in line to make a 50th European Cup appearance for the province.

Leinster squad

C Whitaker, C Willis, A Dunne, C Warner, F Contepomi, D Hickie, G D'Arcy, B O'Driscoll (capt), K Lewis, L Fitzgerald, S Horgan, G Dempsey, R Corrigan, B Blaney, H Vermaas, W Green, R McCormack, B Jackman, M O'Kelly, T Hogan, O Finegan, A Byrnes, S Keogh, C Jowitt, K Gleeson, J Heaslip, N Ronan.