Munster have continued their run of poor from with another home defeat. Munster went down by 16 points to 6 against Gwent Dragons. Munster never were left trailing by a point at half-time and just couldn’t score in the second half.
Munster coach Alan Gaffney appears to have decided that changes are necessary to pull his team out of it’s current losing streak. Gaffney has named an all new half-back pairing of Frank Murphy and Conrad O’Sullivan for tonight’s match at Thomond Park.
With both Leinster coach Gary Ella and Ulster coach Alan Solomons being unsure about their players availability for their games in the Celtic League this weekend, both teams had to leave it until today to make their final decisions on their line-ups.
Connacht coach Michael Bradley has named a strong side for his teams clash with Leinster in Galway on Saturday. Bradley has named a side containing four changes, including Matt Mostyn and new Irish squad members, Darren Yapp and Bernard Jackman.
Celtic League leaders Ulster have signed former Wallaby prop Rod Moore for a further two years to fill the gap caused by Springbok Robbie Kempson’s departure to Northampton Saints.
Munster coach Alan Gaffney seems to have highlighted a problem with communication between the national team and his side, when today he said he wasn’t sure whether Donncha O’Callaghan was available for Friday’s Celtic League match.
Ireland have recieved their first bit of bad news since their win at the weekend against England. Scrum-half Peter Stringer may be unable to play in their next match against Italy at Landsdowne Road. The news will be particularly worrying for Irish coach Eddie O’Sullivan, since many would regard scrum-half as the position where the Irish squad most lacks depth.
Ireland have recieved yet another boost for their Triple Crown campaign following the announcement of the squad for the Dublin training camp this week. The squad that was announced today contains Geordan Murphy who has been out injured since breaking his leg just before the World Cup.
Ireland assistant coach has emerged as favourite to take over as Director of Rugby at Ulster, following Eddie O’Sullivan’s decision to dispense of his services at the end of the season.
Due to Ireland’s fantastic victory at Twickenham on Saturday, the team is now placed at number 5 in the IRB world rankings. The victory against England, the World number one, see’s Ireland leapfrog over South Africa to fifth.