Blow for Munster as Wallace forced out for six months

MUNSTER have suffered a major blow to their Heineken Cup and Celtic League aspirations with the news that David Wallace will be out of the game for up to six months.

National coach Eddie O’Sullivan was also reeling from the shock news yesterday that Wallace has to undergo an operation to cure a shoulder injury.

A scan earlier this week revealed the extent of the problem and Wallace admitted: “The time scale for recovery could be up to six months.”

That will rule him out of Munster’s Heineken Cup campaign and the Celtic League competition. He is also ruled out of contention for Ireland’s World Cup qualifiers against Russia and Georgia, the friendly against Romania in September and further friendly fixtures against Australia, Fiji and Argentina in November.

Wallace was surprisingly excluded from the Irish squad that toured New Zealand in June but eventually joined up with them as a replacement.

Even though his service was not required on that tour, Wallace and his legion of supporters believed he would make a successful return to international rugby. Now, he has to put all those plans on hold following the latest medical report.

“I damaged the shoulder against Wales last season but I honestly thought it wasn’t that serious.

“When you pick up injuries you will always try to make it back as quickly as possible. I suppose, in a way, I might not have done myself justice in certain games afterwards. You try to get away with things. You try to play your way through injuries. It felt stable enough but I do recognise now that I might have struggled in a few matches.

“Looking back, I know that I was able to pick myself up for certain games but the time has come now to bite the bullet.

“It was disappointing when I learned of the extent of the injury but I had to make a choice. I could have gone on and tried to make it through but I know it wouldn’t have worked out to the satisfaction of anyone.

“Right now I am looking at 2003 in the hope that it will be a good year for me. I have spoken to some players who have been through the same type of injury. One of them is Colm McMahon who was out for over five months.

“The time scale, I am told, is between four and six months but I have accepted that it will be the six months rather than four. At this stage, there is no point in trying to rush back and do myself more damage.”

Wallace will go under the knife at the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin on Friday week. In the meantime, new Munster coach Alan Gaffney is busy trying to find a replacement back row forward to include in his Heineken Cup panel.

That replacement will have to be a locally qualified player because Gaffney has already signed two overseas personnel for next season. One is Jim Williams and the second name, apparently from the Southern Hemisphere, will be unveiled today.

The rules of the Heineken Cup demand that a squad of 30 is named some weeks before the start of the tournament. Gaffney admitted last night he cannot afford to leave a place vacant for Wallace in the back row area. Munster have already named Anthony Foley, Alan Quinlan, McMahon and Williams. “We will have to name five back row players for the Heineken Cup and David won’t be available. We couldn’t possibly risk surviving with four people before he comes back.”

But Gaffney is confident that Munster will unearth somebody to fill the gap. It is unlikely to be Donnacha O’Callaghan who is intent on making a bid to further his career in the second row. “It is a big challenge. David is a quality back rower and he will be a loss but Munster have managed to surmount difficult problems of this nature in the last few years.”