Earls out as injuries pile up for Munster

Munster’s prospects of victory in Saturday’s Heineken Cup opener against Racing Metro in Paris took a nosedive yesterday when Keith Earls and Wian du Preez were ruled out of the tie.

Earls and du Preez join Niall Ronan, James Coughlan and Donncha O’Callaghan in sick bay, while there is no good news yet concerning the availability of iconic former skipper Paul O’Connell.

A groin injury put paid to Earls’ prospects of playing any top-class rugby in the foreseeable future and he could well be ruled out of Ireland’s November international series. Du Preez sustained a knee injury in the defeat to Leinster last week and it is serious enough for him to have to visit a specialist today to assess the extent of the damage.