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.

THE answer to the above question that has dominated Irish rugby for the past 10 weeks will be provided at 1.30 this afternoon when Declan Kidney announces his Ireland team to play Italy in the RBS Six Nations Championship at Croke Park on Saturday.

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.

AS DRESS rehearsals go, this was up there with the best. Ireland’s display against the inexperienced but gritty Fijians left coach Declan Kidney smiling despite the selection headaches he faces ahead of Saturday’s date with world champions South Africa.

ON his 100th Test appearance it was fitting that Brian O’Driscoll should produce a late, late try under the posts for Ireland to secure a share the honours against Australia at Croke Park yesterday.

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.

WHEN a player of Brian O’Driscoll’s renown and stature admits that “this was one of the more physical Test matches I’ve played in a long, long time,” the point is well made.

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.

IN the context of what might havebeen, victory was most welcome at Croke Park on Saturday. However that won’t diminish coach Declan Kidney’s food for thought in the weeks leading up to the Six Nations Championship.

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.

JUST a couple of weeks ago, Munster’s second string side went to Shaw’s Bridge in Belfast and crushed a weakened Ulster opposition.

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

A WELL-WORKED injury time try turned this competitive AIB League tie on its head at Musgrave Park yesterday.

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.

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.

IF MUNSTER had shown the same levels of passion and tenacity in the Heineken Cup against Llanelli, things might have worked out differently, but Saturday’s Magners League victory over the Scarlets will have given the coaching staff, the players and the fans some consolation as they look to the future.

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.

MUNSTER coach Declan Kidney has named a squad of 28 in advance of Sunday’s historic Heineken Cup clash with Bourgoin in Geneva.

“YOU don’t beat Munster twice in the same season,” has long been a mantra of the European champions and it’s one that will be put to a severe test at Thomond Park this afternoon (3pm, Setanta Sports) when Leinster make their first visit in nine years to the famous Limerick venue for an eagerly-awaited Magners League tie.

MUNSTER coach Declan Kidney hasn’t given up on his side winning the Magners League.

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.

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