Skipper O’Connell returns to full training

PAUL O’CONNELL took part in a full contact training session with Munster yesterday.

The second row had been sidelined with an ankle ligament injury since the Leinster game at the start of the month but could now be back before the Amlin Cup and Magners League finals.

Sources within the Irish camp revealed that, despite the good news, O’Connell will not be risked this weekend and is being held in reserve.

Initially O’Connell was expected to be out for the rest of the season and his world cup was in doubt before scans revealed he would be back training by the middle of next month.

However he has been training for a week now and his participation in training suggests he’ll be back ahead of schedule.

Munster management are expected to make a full announcement about his injury update tomorrow.

It’s the first bit of good news for the Young Munster lock after what has been a frustrating season. He missed the end of last season, the Autumn internationals and the Six Nations after his groin became infected following an operation.

He made his comeback against Cardiff in December and made his Heineken Cup comeback against Ospreys a week later, only to be sent off and banned for four weeks.

Meanwhile Ospreys Jerry Collins has been cited for a dangerous tackle on Felix Jones in the Magners League match against Munster last Saturday. Jones was attacking from deep in the dying seconds when Collins tackled him high. From the resultant penalty Munster set up a drive for the match-winning score.

Jones has had a series of serious neck injuries which hampered his development but fortunately was not affected by the tackle.