O’Donnell back in reckoning

Tommy O’Donnell has moved a step closer to his Munster comeback this weekend at Perpignan after being nominated by the province as an additional player to its Heineken Cup squad.

Back rower O’Donnell, the Reds’ player of the year last season, played his first game since injuring a knee at Zebre in late September on Friday night as a second-half replacement for Munster A in their British & Irish Cup match at Plymouth Albion. Having successfully come through the final 32 minutes without any adverse reaction, O’Donnell, 26, was yesterday added to Munster’s official Heineken Cup roster, replacing the deregistered and still injured Niall Ronan on the ERC-nominated squad.

The Tipperary man could go straight into the matchday squad for the trip to Stade Aimé Giral with Munster aiming to complile back-to-back wins over Perpignan following their 36-8 at Thomond Park last Sunday.

Munster’s Pool 6 rivals Gloucester, whom Rob Penney’s side must face in the penultimate group game at Kingsholm on the weekend of January 10/11/12, also made a change to their squad, deregistering injured England wing James Simpson—Daniel to make way for newly-signed Tongan tighthead Sila Puafisi ahead of Sunday’s Edinburgh tie.