February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
O’Driscoll and D’Arcy missed the recent victory over Scotland in Edinburgh due to hamstring injuries, but following specialist treatment in Poland, the two key attackers are likely to be fit to face the English.
Coach Eddie O’Sullivan has injury worries, however, over wing forwards Johnny O’Connor and Denis Leamy, so Eric Miller is on standby. The Irish have won both their championship games to date but now face England and France at Lansdowne Road in the space of a fortnight.
CELTIC LEAGUE
Munster fell further behind in the race for the Celtic League title when they defeated Glasgow by 25-19 last Sunday at Thomond Park, but failed to score four tries and thus secure a bonus point. Munster have a game in hand over Welsh side the Ospreys, but they trail by table-toppers by eight points.
Even though Munster’s Ireland contingent were unavailable, they still managed to field 11 internationals and struggled in the initial stages finding themselves 16-3 down after 25 minutes. The winners recovered to score three tries, through Jason Holland, Alan Quinlan and James Storey.
Leinster’s slim chance of vying for the title as good as disappeared in Edinburgh where they lost by 41-33 to the home team. Although Leinster scored tries through Christian Warner (2), Kieran Lewis, Guy Easterby and David Holwell, their disappointing defense meant that Edinburgh crossed for a total of seven tries to easily earn a bonus point.
Connacht failed to find some good home form as they were beaten 18-11 by Welsh side Llanelli in Athlone, while Ulster were unlucky to lose 13-11 to the Dragons in Newport where a late penalty by South Africa full-back Percy Montgomery made the difference.