O’Callaghan boost as Munster face Ospreys

DONNCHA O’Callaghan looks certain to make his seasonal Heineken Cup debut against Neath/Swansea Ospreys this weekend.

O’Callaghan was ruled out of the opening tie with Harlequins due to a calf strain but is odds on to take his place in the side.

As the Ospreys prepare themselves for their biggest Heineken Cup pay-day, Munster will be further boosted by the availability of Shaun Payne.

In those circumstances it is likely Alan Gaffney will make just two changes in personnel and one positional switch - O’Callaghan for Trevor Hogan and Payne for Mossie Lawlor with John Kelly switching to the wing.

Things are more complicated in the Ospreys camp following the suspension of Jonathon Thomas for 18 days after being sent off in the away game to Castres.

The Wales forward was shown the red card for punching Castres replacement Mauricio Reggiardo in injury time and that compounded the problem created by a neck injury to flanker Andrew Lloyd earlier in the game.

But while Thomas is ruled out for this match, Lloyd still has a chance of playing.

Ospreys regional manager Derwyn Jones played down the injury and suggested Lloyd’s visit to a French hospital was a precautionary measure.

“In France anyone suffering from any neck injury is automatically whisked off to hospital. Obviously we have to wait until later in the week but he has not been ruled out.”

Jones also refused to rule out Ospreys chances of making the knockout stages despite being humbled 38-17 by Castres.

“It was a disappointing defeat.

“Sometimes you play well and lose to superior teams. In that situation you put your hands up and take the defeat.

“This time I felt we left our game plan in the dressing room and we have nobody to blame but ourselves because we didn’t play to our potential even at times during the game when we had opportunities.

“Maybe the lesson was about experience. We have a pretty young side, a very talented one, but some rash decisions on the pitch didn’t exactly help us.

“What we did find out though was that French players are not super-human. There were times when we had chances to score but didn’t take them. It wasn’t brilliant defence or anything, just about some mistakes we made ourselves.

“There were factors such as the crowd, the heat and the referee but we’re still not prepared to moan about the defeat except amongst ourselves.”

There are a limited number of tickets available for Sunday’s game, but the Ospreys have already sold 90% of capacity and will play in front of almost 9,000 people.

The huge interest on Sunday is down to three factors, said Jones.

“Playing in the Heineken Cup, such a hugely popular competition, is one.

“Another is that we’re playing good rugby right now and then, of course, Munster are a huge draw.

“They have brought a huge amount of interest to the competition through their own magnificent displays and the brilliant supporters they have.

“These are exciting times for us and we look forward to welcoming Munster here at the weekend.”