Munster granted an extra day to prepare for Ulster clash

MAGNERS LEAGUE:MUNSTER'S APPEAL to have their Magners League match against Ulster rescheduled has been successful in that they have been given an extra 24 hours grace and the game will now take place on Wednesday, April 30th.

The saga of this particular fixture began when the original game had to be postponed because the Ravenhill ground was covered in snow and was subsequently refixed for Tuesday, April 29th just two days after Munster play Saracens in the Heineken Cup semi-final. The Irish province appealed the decision and their reward is an extra day to prepare for the Magners League match.

It is a particularly hectic time for Munster as they travel to Llanelli the following weekend before finishing up in the Magners with a game against the Glasgow Warriors at Musgrave Park on Saturday, May 10th (5.0).

There was further good news for Munster supporters as an additional 3,750 tickets for the European semi-final against Saracens have been released by ERC. The Irish province received a supplementary allocation of 1,750 that will be distributed through the Munster Branch, a further 1,500 tickets will go on sale on www.ticketmaster.co.uk, from tomorrow morning while 500 tickets can be purchased directly from the Ricoh Arena, Coventry.

Table-toppers Leinster have confirmed an extended squad for this Friday's match against Edinburgh at Murrayfield, one that includes captain, Brian O'Driscoll. His presence is by no means guaranteed and coach Michael Cheika will evaluate his continuing rehabilitation from injury before making a definitive decision tomorrow at lunch-time.

Michael Berne and Christian Warner, both of whom were ruled out of contention for a place in the squad last weekend, have been named in a 27-man panel. O'Driscoll's fitness will determine the composition of the midfield but whether at outhalf or inside centre Felipe Contepomi will play.

The Argentinian playmaker is just 19 points away from reaching the 1,000-point mark for the province in 93 Heineken Cup and Magners League appearances.

Edinburgh and Scottish international centre Nick de Luca is hoping to draw on a little inspiration from his favourite football team to help his side emulate their Heineken Cup victory over the Irish province at the same venue.

Dumfries-born De Luca, 23, cited Queen of the South's exploits in reaching the Scottish Cup final against the odds after recording a shock 4-3 win over Aberdeen last weekend as a timely fillip that happily coincided with his recovery from an ankle injury.

He admitted: "It was really pleasing to see Queen of the South reach the Scottish Cup final; that type of result is what sport is all about. Nobody really gave them a chance against Aberdeen, but they showed what they were capable of by producing an inspiring performance.

"We now face Leinster, who are the runaway leaders in the Magners League and after our recent run of results we may be seen as an outside bet to win our final home match. But we proved that we can beat them after our Heineken Cup win over their full-strength side in December and we will be looking to repeat that achievement on Friday."

Meanwhile Connacht go into Friday night's match against the Dragons at Rodney Parade knowing nothing less than a win will keep them in the hunt for qualification to next season's Heineken Cup. Coach Michael Bradley is aware that, following last weekend's defeat to Ulster at Ravenhill, finishing ahead of the Dragons is the last route into Europe's premier competition.

He pointed out: "Having played well against Ulster last week, we were disappointed not to have done better considering the opportunities we created. Now we're faced with a situation where we can still qualify for the Heineken Cup as both Ulster and the Dragons have a hard run-in.

"If we can get a win in Rodney Parade then we're still in a position to achieve our objective for the season. However in the past our matches against the Dragons have gone to the home side. While we beat them earlier this season in our first match, the Dragons have put in a lot of good performances this season and they're quite formidable at home so it'll be a difficult ask.

"Having watched the Dragons over the last couple of matches, they've played a more expansive game so they're developing all the time. From our point of view we have to restrict their opportunities to put width on the ball and in doing so that might create opportunities for ourselves in terms of turnovers and eventually getting into a winning position in the match."

Bradley is hoping for dry weather conditions on the night unlike the prevailing conditions in the last couple of matches. "From our point of view we have to keep varying our game. We're hoping for a dry day as we've played our last couple of matches in difficult conditions, in particular against the home provinces.

"It'll be nice to get a top of the ground type of game and I think both sides will be looking to put width on the game and on that basis it should make for an exciting encounter."

Connacht will announce their squad for the match today before confirming a team tomorrow.

LEINSTER (squad): C Healy, O le Roux, B Blaney, B Jackman, S Knoop, S Wright, L Cullen, T Hogan, M O'Kelly, C Jowitt, S Keogh, K Gleeson, S Jennings, J Heaslip, C Keane, C Whitaker, F Contepomi, J Sexton, L Fitzgerald, R Kearney, M Berne, C Warner, B O'Driscoll, E O'Malley, G Brown, S Horgan, G Dempsey.