Hayes set to finally bow out

JOHN HAYES’S short-term deal to continue playing for with Munster looks set to end on schedule in the New Year, Munster have confirmed.

Hayes, 38 last month and capped 105 times by Ireland, had delayed his intended retirement at the end of last season, both to serve as cover for Ireland’s World Cup front rows and then on a short-term contract with his province after injuries to props Darragh Hurley and Peter Borlase made them unavailable for the opening rounds of the Heineken Cup pool campaign.

Borlase is now fit again and played for Munster A in the British & Irish Cup last weekend and head coach Tony McGahan said that with the New Zealand-born prop on the way back to first-team reckoning, Hayes would not be kept on beyond his current deal.

“At this, stage no, John will be finishing up in the next few weeks,” McGahan said, referring to a “forthcoming” announcement of a precise date. That could either be at the end of the year, pointing to a final home game at Thomond Park on St Stephen’s night against Connacht, or at the conclusion of the Heineken Cup Pool 1 campaign at the end of January.

“We just need a little bit more time to get that done,” McGahan added.

Having been named in Munster’s 38-man European squad in October, veteran tighthead Hayes became the Heineken Cup’s first centurion, with his 100th appearance in the competition as a substitute against Northampton in round one.

The Bruff prop made it 101 appearances last Saturday as a substitute against Scarlets and was yesterday named by head coach Tony McGahan in Munster’s 29-man squad for Sunday’s return fixture with the Welsh region at Thomond Park.

Borlase, meanwhile, will travel to Moseley with the A squad for Saturday’s British & Irish Cup fixture having come on as a substitute in the win over Ayr at Tralee last weekend.

“He got 20 minutes off the bench there last week which was huge for us with regard to him getting back into play, because he’s been severely disrupted with his injury,” McGahan said. “To have him back playing gives us another live option there.”

Munster’s director of rugby, meanwhile, said he expected flanker Peter O’Mahony back for the two interprovincial RaboDirect Pro12 games between Christmas and New Year having suffered a hairline fracture of the jaw during the first half of the 17-14 win at Scarlets on Saturday.

“We’d hope it is just the two weeks, so obviously this week is week one and next week is week two.

“We don’t have a game next week but we have two the next week with regards to Connacht and Ulster, so at this stage it’s the hairline fracture and then we’ll take it from there.

“To be honest we’re pretty lucky because those injuries can usually be six to eight weeks if there is a fracture, so we would expect him to be back for the week with the double games.”