Ella marks Burke as star of the future

NEW Leinster coach Gary Ella has marked out young Barnhall player Brendan Burke as a star of the future.

He takes the stage against Munster in the opening battle of a re-vamped Celtic League at Donnybrook tomorrow evening (7.30).

Burke, a former Irish Youths representative and now development player with the province, is named on the left wing for the clash between the only two winners of this fledgling tournament.

The youngster impressed former international Ella on the province's recent short tour of England during which they hammered Coventry and drew with Gloucester. "He makes himself very busy around the field and has a fairly trusty left boot which may prove valuable throughout a long season," said Ella at a press conference in Dublin's Anglesea Road yesterday.

International commitments have forced both the Leinster and Munster to experiment, but a hard core of experience remains in the squads.

Keith Gleeson is captain and he will be joined by fellow internationals Emmet Byrne, Leo Cullen, Gordon D'Arcy and Brian O'Meara.

Gleeson is expecting a typical tough game. "What makes it interesting is the fact that it is the opening game of the tournament and also that it's against Munster. Games don't come much tougher than this opener.

Ella, meanwhile, expressed surprise at the amount of talent at his disposal. "When I signed for Leinster I knew I was coming into a good set-up with an established squad. What surprised me was the amount of back-up talent available. We know that, like every side in this competition during World Cup year, we will be calling on a lot of these players and that is a challenge in itself. But, so far, it's been pretty encouraging."

from my point of view."

For tomorrow, Christian Warner's pace has prompted Ella to place him in the full-back position and he has named Matthew Leek at out-half. Gordon D'Arcy is picked on the right wing and Ella praised him for his defensive work in the draw against Gloucester last weekend.

The good news from an Irish perspective is that Byrne will start after playing parts of both the Coventry and Gloucester games.

Munster have named a squad of 27 for the game but it seems certain that Frankie Sheahan will make his much awaited comeback. There is a serious hard core of experienced players in the squad, particularly in the pack, including Anthony Foley, Jim Williams, Eddie Halvey, Alan Quinlan, Donnacha O'Callaghan and, of course, Sheahan.

The main worries for coach Alan Gaffney appear to be injuries to Jason Holland and Mike Mullins, while there is a danger that Rob Henderson might be unavailable due to international duties.

Midleton's Damon Urlich has been included as one of three scrum halves or, possibly, as an option at out-half.

Meanwhile, Connacht begin a new season on Saturday when Edinburgh visit the Galway Sportsground for their opening Celtic League encounter.

Connacht start their campaign with host of new players, a new coach in former international Michael Bradley, and with revamped facilities at the Galway Sportsground. Five new debutantes are included in Bradley's starting line-up. St Mary's Conor McPhillips is selected on the right-wing in a familiar backline that boasts captain Tim Allnutt, Darren Yapp, Wayne Munn, and outhalf Eric Elwood who starts in his 16th campaign. Warren O'Kelly and Adrian Clarke are selected as props in a front row that sees a return to Connacht colours for Bernard Jackman after a spell with Sale.

Tyrone Howe (Ulster Dungannon) and Rob Henderson (Munster Garryowen) have been called into the Irish squad to play Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday as a precaution because of groin injuries sustained by Denis Hickie and Kevin Maggs respectively. Hickie and Maggs will have fitness tests today before the team departs.

LEINSTER: C. Warner, G. D'Arcy, K. Lewis, D. Quinlan, B. Burke, M. Leek, B. O'Meara, J. Lyne, G. Hickie, E. Byrne, L. Cullen, B. Gissing, A. McCullen, D. Dillon, K. Gleeson (captain). Replacements. N. Treston, D. Blaney, A. Kearney, S. Jennings, B. O'Riordan, G. Brown, J. McWeeney.

MUNSTER (from): J. Staunton, M. McPhail, C. McMahon, M. Lawlor,R, M. Lawlor, S. Payne, J. Jones-Hughes, R. Lane, J. Holland, K. Keane, D. Urlich, F. Murphy, O. Reddan, J. Blaney, F. Sheahan, S. Kerr, M. Cahill, J. Danaher, F. Roche, D. O'Callaghan, E. Halvey, T. Hogan, A. Quinlan, D. Leamy, J. Williams (captain), A. Foley.

CONNACHT: M McHugh, C McPhillips, D Yapp, T Allnutt (cpt) W Munn, E Elwood, C Keane, W O'Kelly, B Jackman, A Clarke, D Browne, A Farley, M Swift, J O'Sullivan, M Lacey. Replacements, Replacements: J Fogarty, D McFarland, M McCarthy, M Carroll, D Hewitt, C O'Loughlin, T Robinson.