Cronje signs for Harlequins but raging Bulls dispute deal

HARLEQUINS, Munster’s Heineken Cup opponents next Saturday, claimed to have signed South African international second row Geo Cronje yesterday, but last night Blue Bulls chief executive Stephan Pretorius disputed the signing, claiming Cronje’s contract with the Bulls was still valid.

Cronje will not be available for Heineken Cup action against Munster, Ospreys and Castres in the group stages in any event. The 24-year-old has won three caps for the Springboks, but was embroiled in a racism row earlier this year.

Harlequins have better news in the form of ex-Munster player Jeremy Staunton, who has settled at out-half and scored all their points in a 15-9 loss to Leicester last weekend.

Munster coach Alan Gaffney hopes to have a full panel for the game.

The biggest doubt is second row Donncha O’Callaghan, who is in a race against time to shake off the effects of a calf injury picked up in training a fortnight ago. Another second row, Dave Pusey, is a long-term absentee, so if O’Callaghan is out there will be a straight battle between Trevor Hogan and Australian Tom Bowman to partner Paul O’Connell.

Gaffney is to announce the panel from which the side will be finalised at lunchtime today.

“We expected Donncha’s calf to heal better than it has done,” Gaffney said. “As it was described to me it would have been fantastic if the tear was in the belly of the calf but apparently it’s a bit lower than that. I’m not saying it’s on the Achilles but it’s lower than the belly and they did say that’s slower to heal.

“To have Trevor and Tommy as back-up when you have O’Callaghan and Pusey out, we’re pretty well off .”

In the back row Jim Williams, Denis Leamy and Anthony Foley played against Cardiff, leaving Alan Quinlan as a replacement and David Wallace and Stephen Keogh in the stands.

Gaffney admitted: “Probably half the people out there won’t agree with us. We’ve just got to do it on what we’ve seen and pick the right side to play Harlequins. We’ll go on a horses-for-courses basis. When you look at guys like Wally, Quinny, and I suppose Axel (Foley) was in that category too, I agree with the pre-season they’ve had. The one negative is the lack of game-time and you see that with Leinster at present. They’re pretty rusty. It’s a bonus that players are getting bigger, stronger and faster but it’s still a case of game-time. Denis has had a lot of game-time and is a player in form. I’m not saying the other guys are out of form but they haven’t had as much time on the pitch as others.”

Gaffney makes no secret of his admiration for Quinlan and Wallace but also was satisfied with the Leamy- Williams-Foley axis against Cardiff.

“We dropped a couple of balls in contact but I’d excuse that in the conditions,” he said. “I thought Leamy played well. His running lines were very good in attack and defence. Jimmy worked his absolute backside off. He slowed down a lot of their ball and turned a lot of ball over. Foley is Foley, he just works and works. I thought Quinny was outstanding for his 20 minutes so it’s a tough call when you’ve got Wally sitting there in the wings.”

It’s a certainty that Christian Cullen will be at full-back, John Kelly and Anthony Horgan on the wings,

Ronan O’Gara and Peter Stringer at half-back, Marcus Horan, Frankie Sheahan and John Hayes in the front row, Paul O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan (if unfit, Trevor Hogan) in the second row. Presumably Shaun Payne is in pole position for the No 13 jersey, especially as Mike Mullins was released to play for Old Crescent on Saturday.

In Leinster, Eric Miller and Dave Holwell are expected back for the game with Treviso after injury.

Meanwhile, former Welsh Rugby League coach Neil Kelly will join Ulster as an assistant coach.