In Glasgow a specially-convened ERC disciplinary panel upheld Quinlan’s 12-week ban, while on the training fields in Pennyhill Park Hotel, Bagshot in England, Jerry Flannery sustained an elbow injury to rule him out of the eagerly-awaited tour.
The Shannon duo will now follow the 10-game South African Tour of the British & Irish Lions from their Limerick bases. Their withdrawal leaves captain Paul O’Connell, David Wallace and Keith Earls to carry the hopes of the Limerick rugby community into the tour.
Jerry Flannery is to start rehabilitation immediately and will be assessed by an orthopaedic specialist this Thursday. The Munster and Ireland hooker sustained torn ligaments in his left elbow during a training session with his new team-mates.
When Flannery missed a Lions function in London on Wednesday night, it first became apparent that the popular Limerick man would become the third Munster selection who will not make the flight to South Africa on Sunday.
Hours earlier Munster flanker Alan Quinlan had received the news he had feared.
“The committee found Alan Quinlan had not demonstrated the original decision had been in error or that it should be overturned or varied.
“Accordingly the appeal committee dismissed the appeal and upheld the suspension imposed on the player of 12 weeks,” said and ERC statement relating to Alan Quinlan’s appeal.
Alan Quinlan’s last-ditch bid was to have a 12-week playing ban overturned - he was banned for making contact with the eye area of Leo Cullen during Munster’s Heineken Cup semi-final defeat to Leinster at Croke Park. Quinlan’s suspension is for 12 playing weeks which means the off-season is not included and will therefore not be eligible to play again until September 10.
British & Irish Lions Tour Manager Gerald Davies spoke of Quinlan’s absence.
“Alan Quinlan’s suspension is naturally disappointing and he must be devastated by the outcome of the hearing and appeal. That said the Lions management fully accepts the decisions of the ERC judicial process. The outcome necessitated the selection of a new player and Ian McGeechan and his fellow selectors had no hesitation in selecting Leicester’s Tom Croft,” said Davies.
The words of Davies were echoed by Head Coach Ian McGeechan.
“We had to be fair and allow Alan Quinlan the opportunity to appeal his suspension. However, following the outcome of the appeal we have replaced Quinlan with Tom Croft who, it must be said, was very unlucky not to have been selected in the original tour party. I’m very disappointed Quinlan will have to miss out on a Lions tour, but Tom is a young buck with a lot of talent. He gives us something different,” said the Scot.
Meanwhile, despite winning the 2009 Magners League, Munster have just four players selected on the Magners League Dream Team for the 2008-09 season - Lions captain Paul O’Connell is joined in the Dream Team by Jerry Flannery, Ronan O’Gara and Lifeimi Mafi.
Rugby fans and media across Ireland, Scotland and Wales were asked to vote for their Magners League Dream Team and the player who polled the highest number of votes in each position was been selected for the Dream Team.
The Dream Team features players from four clubs - Ospreys lead the way with five players, while Cardiff Blues and Heineken Cup finalists Leinster have three players in the team.
Magners League Dream Team 2009: Lee Byrne (Ospreys); Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), Brian O’Driscoll (Leinster), Lifeimi Mafi (Munster), Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), Ronan O’Gara (Munster), Mike Phillips (Ospreys), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Jerry Flannery (Munster), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Paul O’Connell (Munster), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Rocky Elsom (Leinster), Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues), Jamie Heaslip (Leinster).
Jerome O’Connell
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment