Decision on O'Driscoll delayed

Whether or not Brian O'Driscoll will make his seasonal return in tomorrow night's crucial Guinness Interprovincial at Donnybrook against Ulster will not be decided until tomorrow.

The Leinster management, clearly eager to give the gifted 21-year-old every chance of playing the game, have deferred his specialist's examination until the morning of the match.

As Matt Williams also pointed out yesterday, an ongoing concern over the calf strain which forced Peter McKenna's early departure against Munster last Friday compounds the outside-centre position and hence Leinster have left a vacancy at number 13 in an otherwise unchanged backline.

Similarly, the province have left a vacancy at tight-head pending fitness tests on Emmet Byrne (bruised shoulder) and Gary Halpin (sore back). In the one confirmed change, Leo Cullen (an effective replacement in each of Leinster's outings to date) has been named in place of Bob Casey, who moves to the bench.

O'Driscoll's sharpness in training is such that, apparently, you wouldn't think he's been away from the game for over three months and, explaining the decision to delay a decision on the player, Williams said:

"He had a test on Monday and he's had a big improvement over the last couple of days, and the other problem is that Peter McKenna has come off with a bruised calf in the last 10 minutes of the last two games. So there's no gain in making a decision today and we're going to give Brian all the time we can to recover."

Regarding the change at second-row, Williams said: "It's not that Bob is playing badly, it's just that Leo's been playing very well. It's as simple as that. It's a really healthy situation for the team because we've got Rory Sheriff as well, who's been training superbly. It's awful not being able to give him a game but we're very fortunate to have that situation."

Even with one eye on earning a top-two place and with it guaranteed qualification for next season's European Cup, Williams maintained: "I don't think we need to put extra pressure on ourselves because then you can say what if we go and win the next three? And if you to build it up too much and you win, then mentally you mightn't be right the next week and you've nullified all your good work. So it's just a matter of taking it one game at a time."

Ulster, for their part, have named an unchanged side to the one which actually began their previous two interpro outings, with close-season recruit Clem Boyd being declared unfit in advance this time and so Simon Best starts again with John Campbell on the bench.

Meanwhile, Connacht have delayed naming their side, although a probable new recruit to fill the vacancy in their squad is DLSP's 24-year-old New Zealand lock Rowen Frost, who technically isn't deemed an overseas player due to a British passport and will provide the province with a decidedly useful and experienced second-rower in the absence of the suspended Mark McConnell. He is likely to start his Connacht career on the replacements' bench away to Munster tomorrow night.