Fears Munster playmaker to miss clash

MUNSTER playmaker Ronan O’Gara is set to miss today’s sell-out Heineken Cup quarter-final at Lansdowne Road.

The star out-half picked up a hamstring injury on Thursday night and is a major doubt for the clash with Perpignan.

Medics have been working around the clock to have Munster’s record point scorer ready, but young Jeremy Manning is on standby to fill the No 10 jersey against the French. Paul Burke has also been called up to the squad’s Dublin base as cover.

O’Gara’s withdrawal is the last thing Munster coach Declan Kidney would want in a competition in which the province has had little luck over the years.

Doubts over the talismanic O’Gara will have over 40,000 Munster fans on red alert ahead of today’s clash. By kick-off at 5.30pm, Munster will know their prospective semi-final opponents, with Toulouse and Leinster clashing in France.

All of Leinster’s Triple Crown heroes return to the starting line-up for today’s 3pm kick-off in Le Stadium Municipal.

Centre pair Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy, earning his 100th cap, wing Shane Horgan and full back Girvan Dempsey are all named in the back division after nine weeks out of provincial action while starring in the Six Nations campaign.