O'Connell in, O'Gara out for Munster

Paul O'Connell completed his first hour of rugby for Munster since May after lining out against Racing Metro on Saturday and reported no ill effects after the game.

The news means he will be expected line out from the start again when Munster take Edinburgh in Thomond Park on Sunday ( 12.45pm).

The news of Ronan O’Gara (hamstring) is not as promising however, after having a scan today and it is expected that he will not be fit to take part in the game at the weekend.

Donncha O’Callaghan is reported to be progressing well in his recovery from his hamstring strain he sustained in the Leinster game but he and Niall Ronan (groin) will need to come through training this week before a decision can be made on their participation.

Further good news for Rob Penney and his staff from the weekend matches is that Felix Jones took a full part in the British and Irish Cup victory over Plymouth Albion and could be in the mix for the Edinburgh game, as could Ian Nagle who also made a return to action in England on Saturday.

Two others who will come into Penney’s consideration are Luke O’Dea and Johne Murphy, the latter travelled to Paris as back-up at the weekend while O’Dea has recovered from a bout of illness which had ruled him out.

James Coughlan (groin), Ivan Dineen (groin), Keith Earls (groin) and Sean Scanlon (back) are all still on the road to recovery.