Visit of Pau has Leinster on guard

THE Leinster selectors, who left the full-back position open when they named their team on Monday to meet Pau in Donnybrook on Saturday in the European Cup, will wait until tomorrow before filling the berth.

Ciaran Clarke has a hamstring injury sustained in the win over Borders last Saturday and Peter McKenna, who missed that match, is under treatment for an ankle injury. McKenna is rated to have the better prospect of being fit. If he is ruled out, then Girvan Dempsey, Clarke's Terenure College clubmate, will fill the berth.

Pau, who like Leinster are on two points, have been involved in ongoing controversy during this competition. They had two players sent off against Llanelli last Saturday week, scrum-half Frederic Torossian and flanker Nicolas Bacque. Torossian has been suspended for 30 days for punching and Bacque has been suspended for 60 days for kicking an opponent. Last Saturday, Leicester complained about Pau players eye gouging. Martin Johnson, Richard Cockerill and John Wells all sustained facial injuries. Wells was particularly incensed and said he feared for his eyes.

Leinster must not alone beat Pau, but also need Leicester to defeat Llanelli to qualify for the knock-out stages. But even that might not be enough as Lanelli's points difference is 50 better than Leinster. A win for Pau and defeat for Llanelli will give the French club the quarter-final berth as their points difference is superior to that of Llanelli.

Lansdowne and St Mary's College, who meet in the final of the Leinster Senior League on Sunday at Donnybrook, have both delayed selection of their teams. They are expected to announce the sides today.

There is nothing to stop the clubs from fielding their representative players who have been involved in the interprovincial series and European competitions and have not as a consequence been available for the league.

Both clubs with, however, largely confine their selections to players who have lined out for them in the competition in the absence of their representative players, even though all those involved at representative level will have played in the European competitions on Saturday and will be available.

But figures such as Stephen Rooney and Colin McEntee, both substitutes for Leinster against Pau on Saturday, have played for Lansdowne this season in the league as has prop Angus McKeen who played for Leinster last Saturday but is not in the team or on the replacement panel against Pao. In those circumstances it is likely all three will be included in the Lansdowne side on Sunday.

Lansdowne and St Mary's met in the inaugural Leinster Senior League final in 1971-72 when St Mary's won the title with a late penalty goal.