Availability of Irish duo a real tonic for Penney

Rob Penney has been able to name Ireland internationals Donncha O’Callaghan and Mike Sherry in his first competitive squad for Munster’s RaboDirect Pro12 opener at Edinburgh tomorrow night.

Second row O’Callaghan will start the first game of the season while hooker Sherry is named on the bench, despite a summer spent on tour with Ireland in New Zealand. Sherry saw no game time over the three Tests, however, while O’Callaghan saw just 64 minutes of action and both forwards were cleared by the IRFU to represent their province this weekend.

Penney will hand Munster debuts to summer signings Casey Laulala and James Downey in the centres as well as openside flanker Sean Dougall, while the other uncapped player in the squad, back row Barry O’Mahony, is on the bench.