MUNSTER manager Shaun Payne has backed the province to bounce back from their Heineken Cup elimination in Sunday’s crucial Magners League clash with the Blues at Cardiff City Stadium.

PAUL O’CONNELL and Keith Earls remain major injury concerns for Munster ahead of the Heineken Cup semi-final clash with Biarritz in San Sebastian on May 2nd.

MUNSTER chiefs are confident that Lions pair Paul O’Connell and Keith Earls will be fit for Saturday’s Heineken Cup quarter-final with Northampton Saints.

MUNSTER will pick from close to a full deck for Friday night’s Magners League clash with Leinster at Thomond Park.

DONNCHA O’CALLAGHAN is the only member of the Irish team that started Saturday’s Six Nations defeat to Scotland included in Munster’s squad for Friday’s Magners League game with Glasgow at Thomond Park (8pm).

MUNSTER manager Shaun Payne last night admitted the province face a ‘difficult’ task in finding a replacement for Jean de Villiers due to the looming Rugby World Cup.

MUNSTER have opted to give John Hayes another week off and he will sit out Sunday’s Magners League game against the Scarlets at Musgrave Park. Meanwhile, they are keeping their fingers crossed that Marcus Horan will take a full part in Shannon’s AIB League game against St Mary’s College on Saturday.

RONAN O’GARA is the only one of Munster’s senior internationals included in the squad of 27 announced yesterday ahead of Saturday’s Magners League game against Connacht at Thomond Park (7.30pm).

ONE hundred Heineken Cup games later, yesterday’s quarter-final victory over the Ospreys at Thomond Park was an historic occasion for European champions Munster.

MUNSTER supporters needn’t worry. As the province trained at the University of Limerick yesterday afternoon for Sunday’s Heineken Cup quarter-final against the Ospreys, Ronan O’Gara, Paul O’Connell and Doug Howlett were missing, but the trio were subsequently included in the 26-man squad.

MUNSTER coach TonyMcGahan wasn’t in the mood to bask in the glory of this Magners League derby victory at Thomond Park on Saturday night.

RONAN O’GARA has been omitted from the Munster squad for tomorrow night’s top-of-the-table Magners League game against the Ospreys as a precautionary measure.

MUNSTER’S desire to win the Magners League will only be partially compromised by the decision to rest captain Paul O’Connell, John Hayes and Doug Howlett for the clash with Ulster at Ravenhill on Saturday.

ALAN QUINLAN is back in the Munster squad for Saturday’s Magners League clash with Cardiff Blues at Musgrave Park (7.30pm).

ANTHONY FOLEY makes his 201st competitive and final appearance for Munster on home soil in tomorrow’s Magners League clash against Glasgow, (Musgrave Park, 5pm).

IRISH internationals David Wallace and Denis Leamy are named in the Munster squad for tomorrow night’s Magners League clash away to Connacht, (Sportsgrounds, 7.30pm).

PAUL O’CONNELL, Alan Quinlan, Tony Buckley and Peter Stringer return to strengthen Munster’s Magners League challenge this weekend, but the search for Ronan O’Gara’s back-up seems set to continue after Jeremy Manning’s announcement that he is to return to New Zealand at the end of the season.

January 18, 2003. Pool Two: Munster 33 Gloucester 6

JOHN KELLY has finally returned to challenge for a place in Munster’s Heineken Cup squad after recovering from a knee injury.

FORMER English coach Andy Robinson believes Munster will shock Wasps in the Heineken Cup next Saturday — with Ronan O’Gara as the central figure.

A BRIDGE too far for Munster to win a third Magners League game in succession against leaders Cardiff Blues, despite their best efforts at Musgrave Park last night.

THERE will be a reunion of sorts for Munster centre Rua Tipoki at Musgrave Park tonight.

IRISH coach Eddie O’Sullivan will have a far better idea of the well-being of his side after a near full-strength team has played Italy at Ravenhill tonight in the final warm-up for next month’s Rugby World Cup.

IT won’t have pleased Munster that they finished third of the four Irish teams in the Magners League, but there were some positives to take from Saturday’s comprehensive win over bogey side Glasgow Warriors.

DENIS HURLEY makes his home Magners League debut for Munster against Glasgow Warriors at Musgrave Park this evening (5.30pm).

EDINBURGH are boosted by the return of veteran Scott Murray and Munster by Paul O’Connell for the Magners League game at Murrayfield tonight.

NEITHER David Wallace nor Denis Leamy will be considered for selection on the Munster team to play the Ospreys in Wales tomorrow night.

MUNSTER second-row forwards Chris Wyatt and Donnacha Ryan are auditioning tonight for a starting place in the Heineken Cup quarter-final against Llanelli.

FORMER Rugby League star Brian Carney looks set to make his Munster debut against Ulster at Ravenhill tomorrow night, but it will be on side shorn of virtually all its international stars.

MUNSTER’S tale of woe continued as they slumped to a Magners League defeat at Musgrave Park last night.

ALAN QUINLAN’s return will be a major boost for Munster when they take on Border Reivers at Netherdale tonight.

HOURS after creating a new Heineken Cup record of 12 successive victories, Munster were publicly acclaimed as the top sporting team of 2006.

WALES lock Ian Gough has dubbed New Zealand “honest cheaters” just four days before the two countries clash at the Millennium Stadium.

Munster 41 Bourgoin 23

MUNSTER hope to head to Welford Road for their first defence of the Heineken Cup with a clean bill of health.

BARRY MURPHY, a revelation for Munster last year, is ready to return to Heineken Cup action.

CHRISTIAN CULLEN and Anthony Horgan are definitely ruled out of the early games in Munster’s Heineken Cup campaign, but medical bulletins indicate both should be back in a month.

THE big boys are back for Leinster and Munster — most of them at least.

CHRISTIAN CULLEN may yet manage to see out his extended contract with Munster.

IS it the end of the road in Munster for New Zealand legend Christian Cullen?

MUNSTER will be without Irish hooker Frankie Sheahan yet again when they take on Ulster in the Magners League at Musgrave Park tonight (7.30pm).

MUNSTER captain Anthony Foley is back at the helm for tonight’s Magners League encounter with Glasgow at Hughenden, 7.30pm.

ALAN QUINLAN’S amazing recovery from injury should be complete tonight, when his name is added to the Irish squad for the tour to New Zealand and Australia.

CHRISTIAN CULLEN, ruled out for the Heineken Cup final, may have his contract renewed for another season.