Former All Black centre Casey Laulala has made it clear he is not prepared to hand over the Munster 13 jersey to Keith Earls without a fight.

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THERE was mixed news for Munster followers at yesterday’s Ireland team announcement in Limerick: three-quarter sensation Keith Earls hasn’t been ruled out of Ireland’s Six Nations clash with Italy in Rome on February 15, but Ian Dowling is in a race against time to be fit for Munster’s Heineken Cup quarter-final against Ospreys on April 12.

Shane Horgan and Gordon D’Arcy have both been declared fit for Leinster’s Heineken Cup Quarter Final tie with the Leicester Tigers at Lansdowne Road on Saturday (KO: 5.15pm).