Hayes, who received a huge ovation from the capacity crowd when initially substituted during the second half of Saturday night’s Magners League win over Leinster, is in line to make his 86th appearance in the Heineken Cup on Easter Sunday.
Thirty-five-year-old Hayes made his Heineken Cup debut against Petrarca Rugby in September 1998.
Heineken Cup holders Munster will hit the Heineken Cup century mark when they collide with the Ospreys in the mammoth quarter-final tie - the defending champions are competing in the quarter-final stage of the competition for a record 11th successive season. Sunday’s game will be refereed by English official Wayne Barnes.
Coach Tony McGahan is predicting a ‘magic day’ as Munster join fellow European giants Toulouse in cracking the Heineken Cup 100-match barrier: “We have reached the stage of the Heineken Cup where it is all or nothing - if you don’t perform in the 80 minutes of a knock-out game you are out.
“It was always our intention to be competitive in both the Heineken Cup and the domestic league and to have both dreams still alive at this stage of the season is excellent. It was a fantastic result against Leinster in a very attritional match and to win an important game like that going into this huge weekend was just what we needed.”
Meanwhile the automated turnstiles will not be in use for the next two matches at Thomond Park due to a number of issues which arose regarding access into the stadium for Munster’s Magners League clash with Leinster.
Stadium Director John Cantwell said: “We would like to acknowledge that there were a number of issues that arose regarding access into Thomond Park stadium at last Saturday’s match against Leinster.
“We, Munster Rugby and Thomond Park Stadium, would like to apologise to anyone who was inconvenienced and affected by this.
“There were a number of contributing factors, however following a review over the weekend and today we have identified that the automated access procedure (automated Turnstiles) are creating a bottleneck which is contributing to a significant proportion of the problem.
“We have therefore decided not to use the automated turnstiles for the next two matches in Thomond Park Stadium and will revert to staff-operated hand held scanners controlling access through the turnstiles.
“This decision has been taken in order to improve the efficiency of access on match days whilst we undertake a full review of the automated system both internally and with our suppliers.”
Supporters arriving for Sunday’s Heineken Cup quarter-final and the Magners League tie with Connacht six days later have been asked to arrive at least one hour before kick-off time to ensure that all ticket holders are processed in an orderly and efficient manner.
Meanwhile the third annual Munster Rugby Awards will take place on Saturday, April 25 in Thomond Park.
Eleven diverse categories will be honoured, ranging from Munster Player and Young Player of the Year through to up and coming Academy talent, women’s rugby, referees, schools and clubs.
Members of the Munster Rugby team have nominated four players for the prestigious Munster Player of the Year Award - John Hayes, Paul O’Connell, Niall Ronan and David Wallace.
The winner will be chosen by the awards panel of judges with a public vote also taken into account.
Colm Kinsella
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