Warwick to remain with Munster

THE war of words between Munster and London Irish will end today when the two clubs will resolve their differences on the Paul Warwick affair.

The Exiles claim Munster’s Warwick signed a contract to move from Ireland to London in time for the start of next season, but then changed his mind.

However, the matter has now been resolved to the satisfaction of both parties, with the Aussie to remain a Munster player for another two years. The two clubs will release an explanatory statement today.

Meanwhile, Warwick’s Munster team-mate Rua Tipoki is in danger of missing the province’s Heineken Cup quarter-final against Ospreys on April 12th.

Tipoki is absent again from a Munster squad as preparations continue for Saturday’s top-of-the-table Magners League clash with Leinster at Thomond Park.

The former New Zealand Maori captain has endured an injury-ravaged season, and has failed to appear in a Munster match-day 22 since sustaining a hamstring injury against Ulster on January 3.

Last week Munster management hoped Tipoki’s injury would clear up in time for Saturday’s mouth-watering clash at Thomond Park but without any game-time in three months, it’s likely head coach Tony McGahan will plump for a midfield combination of Lifeimi Mafi and Keith Earls for both this weekend and against Ospreys eight days later.

McGahan’s 26-man squad includes all of Munster’s returning Grand Slam heroes as well as Ian Dowling who took a full part in yesterday’s training session in Limerick.

The make-up of Munster’s back-row for the upcoming two games remains uncertain after openside flanker Niall Ronan posted three tries in last weekend’s 26-13 win over Glasgow Warriors in Firhill.

The Meath man could start against his former Leinster team-mates with McGahan opting for a back-row unit of Denis Leamy, Ronan and David Wallace at number eight, which means Alan Quinlan could drop to the bench. French referee, Christophe Berdos, has been appointed for Saturday’s sell-out clash.

Meanwhile, Matt Williams has expressed his annoyance at the way his defence folded in their defeat to Leinster last weekend.

The Ulster head coach has included Niall O’Connor and Mark McCrea in a 24-man panel for Saturday’s clash with the Ospreys in Ravenhill.

“We’re simply not ruthless enough about capitalising on our positive play and a lot of the Leinster points were from poor tackles,” said Williams. “We missed tackles rather than them actually creating the opportunities — that is simply not on.

“I know what we are doing is still, to a degree, a work in progress, but our form is inconsistent. I feel that is going to continue for a while. We made five line-breaks and did not get a point in that first half. If you look then at Leinster, they had three line-breaks in the second half and scored off all three.”

Connacht, meanwhile, have received a huge boost ahead of their European Challenge Cup quarter-final against Northampton on April 11 with Samoan centre Niva Ta’auso set to return from injury.

MUNSTER SQUAD (v Leinster): M Horan, F Pucciariello, J Flannery, D Fogarty, J Hayes, T Buckley, P O’Connell, D O’Callaghan, M O’Driscoll, A Quinlan, N Ronan, D Ryan, D Wallace, D Leamy, T O’Leary, P Stringer, R O’Gara, P Warwick, J Manning, L Mafi, B Murphy, K Earls, K Lewis, D Howlett, I Dowling, D Hurley.

ULSTER SQUAD (v Ospreys): BJ Botha, T Court, B Young, E O’Donoghue, M McCullough, C Del Fava, C Henry, N Brady, D Pollock, R Best, R Caldwell, R Diack; S Daneilli, A Trimble, D Cave, C Willis, N O’Connor, C Schifcofske, I Whitten, I Boss, I Humphreys, T Nagusa, M McCrea, P Wallace.