Depleted squads prepared for a season of attrition

Team news: The Ireland squad are in their seventh week of a 10-week pre-season training phase while the four provinces belt into the first round of their Celtic League programme at the weekend.

It scarcely needs to be said that this is the beginning of a long season of attrition for ambitious Irish teams, Munster opening the Irish interest in the competition on Friday night at St Helens, where they face Ospreys.

Connacht and Ulster step up to Glasgow Rugby and Edinburgh Rugby respectively on Saturday for their first outings, with Leinster holding down the unfamiliar Sunday slot at Donnybrook as Cardiff Blues arrive looking for an early scalp.

The officers in the branch offices just across the road from the Dublin 4 stadium are likely to take a keen interest in the numbers that push through the turnstiles on Sunday following a change from the tried and trusted Friday-night-after-work formula, which had generated quite a following. Will they come or won't they?

In the same flimsy state as Ulster and Munster, Leinster step into the opening phase of matches without their international players.

Ulster won't expect their four panellists, Simon Best, Tyrone Howe, David Humphreys and Kevin Maggs, to arrive at Ravenhill with their playing kit until at least the end of September. Much the same applies to the other teams including Connacht, who have Bernard Jackman in the international set-up.

Of the four Irish teams, only Munster know their combination and yesterday the starting team was pinned up without the name of Mossie Lawlor, who came on against Newcastle Falcons at halftime in a recent pre-season friendly, before scoring and converting a try in injury time to secure a heartening 13-10 win.

Lawlor took a knock, although nothing too serious, but he is sidelined along with the long-term casualty David Pusey. Pusey is still recovering from a nasty shoulder injury picked up at the beginning of the summer.

The Munster management have stuck with the same back line that started against Newcastle - Stephen Keogh, Denis Leamy and captain Jim Williams - behind a second row of Trevor Hogan and Cork Constitution's Shane O'Connor, a member of Ireland's under-21 World Cup team that lost to New Zealand in the final in July.

In the backs, Christian Cullen again starts at full back. The former All Black has something to prove this season after an injury last year blighted his first dip into Irish rugby.

Cullen was acquired to put a little zip and vigour into the Munster running line, an ability he has demonstrated at a higher level but has yet to reproduce in the red of Munster.

Paul Burke starts the game at outhalf with Mike Prendergast at scrumhalf, while there is also talk of Munster signing the former Australian lock Tom Bowman.

Discussions are at an advanced stage for the name of Jim Williams's former Aussie team-mate, who won 16 caps and played his club rugby with the New South Wales Waratahs.

Leinster coach Declan Kidney will decide on his starting side today or tomorrow but the information available is that the squad came through their England trip relatively unscathed.

Kidney has some encouraging news in that Argentinian outhalf Felipe Contepomi will be back playing within a month while Ireland winger Denis Hickie is expected to make an appearance after the first three or four matches following the awful injury to his Achilles tendon last year. Once again the side is likely to be captained by Blackrock's Leo Cullen.

The Ulster coach and former Ireland centre, Mark McCall, will select his team this afternoon. He is already looking at a number of injuries following Ulster's pre-season outing at Newport, where winger James Topping ended up hitting one of the hoardings at the side of the pitch and injuring his ankle. He is currently a "wait-and-see" casualty.

Roger Wilson, from whom more good work is expected this season after a fine year in 2003, is also in rehab with an ankle injury while a niggling knee problem prevented Neil McMillan from taking part in the Newport match.

McCall's injury list is dishearteningly long. Adam Larkin's damaged wrist and the troublesome knees of Reece Spee, Shane Stewart and Tim Barker, combined with the four missing internationals and two unnamed injured players make for a fraught opening for McCall, whose team went down a disappointing 30-7 to the Dragons in their final pre-season friendly.

Connacht appear to be in better fettle following their summer preparations.

Although missing Jackman to the Ireland squad, they will otherwise be without only Mark McHugh when they take on Glasgow Rugby. The full back is now about three weeks away from taking to the pitch as a shoulder injury recovers.

MUNSTER (v Ospreys): C Cullen; J Payne, M Mullins, J Storey, A Horgan; P Burke, M Prendergast; F Roche, J Flannery, G McIlwham, S O'Connor, T Hogan, S Keogh, D Leamy, J Williams. Replacements: J Kelly, J Holland, E Reddan, J O'Connor, J Blaney, D Ryan, M Storey.