Munster wait for news on Henderson

Barry Coughlan

Henderson will consult a specialist to assess damage to his cheekbone officially put as a non-displaced minor fracture of his cheekbone.

Munster coach Alan Gaffney said he hoped Henderson, who sustained the injury 10 days ago against Leinster, would be cleared to play and the bustling centre did take part in a training session for the province yesterday.

His availability hinges on a further consultation with the medical personnel today but he has, apparently, a better chance of making it than John Kelly, whose recovery from a bruised ankle has been slow. Kelly is back in training but has played a limited part in preparations. It's unlikely he will be considered for selection.

The good news appears to be that Paul Burke has recovered from a knock sustained last weekend. Burke played for the duration of the match and was back in training yesterday.

Meanwhile, Neath/Swansea Ospreys coach Lyn Jones has promised to play his part in helping Munster through to a Heineken Cup quarter-final next weekend. The Ospreys are out of the competition but Jones has sworn to make life difficult for visitors Castres to the Gnoll.

"Our European season is over but the minimum requirement for our team this season was to win three of our six games. We've won two and now want to win three. Munster have proved themselves the best team in our pool so far and they probably deserve to qualify for the quarter finals. If we can do them a favour we will."

There is no danger that Ospreys will weaken their team for the forthcoming match with Castres. "We owe it to ourselves and everyone else to put out our strongest available team. We have the Celtic League to look forward to and this will be useful preparation."

Far from the recent "bad blood" between the teams, there now appears to be a genuine recognition of achievement. Jones eulogised Munster, pointing to the wealth of experience in the side that helped them through two keenly fought Heineken Cup encounters against the Welsh side.

Equally, Munster coach Gaffney predicted that the Ospreys had come so far in a short time that they were the best side in Wales by some distance.

For now, Munster are in line for a quarter-final place but need to beat Harlequins at Twickenham to achieve it. They will probably need a bonus point as well to secure a home draw in the last eight.

Captain Anthony Foley, who scored one try and made the other as Munster beat Ospreys 20-10, isn't fearful of anything above the norm of playing a European Cup match.

"This team has been around the block a bit and we expect we'll have a decent measure of support in London. At the end of the day a pitch is a pitch, there are two sets of goalposts and lines at either end and either side of the pitch. It won't be anything particularly new for us to have to play away from home."

Leinster's great escape artists all look like being available for Saturday's clash with Treviso at Lansdowne Road. Leo Cullen was substituted in the second half of the game after taking the field initially despite suffering from illness.

Cullen is likely to be back in the frame and so too is Ben Gissing who was ruled through injury.

"There were no injuries of note, just a few bruises here and there and the information is that there will be a full squad available for selection, at least all the front line players," said a spokesperson for the Branch.