A potentially-damaging rift between Geordan Murphy and the Irish management was averted yesterday when the Leicester full back had a change of heart about making himself unavailable for next week's Irish get-together in Limerick and the subsequent June 3rd Test against Romania.

Murphy will now fly to Limerick and link up with the rest of the 29-man squad on Sunday, the day after he plays for Leicester in the European Cup final against Stade Francais. Earlier yesterday, it was announced that Murphy had made himself unavailable, in part due to a niggling hamstring strain which had sidelined him for a couple of weeks before his return to action last Sunday, but also due to a preference for linking up with the Barbarians' squad for their matches against Scotland and England next week.

Not surprisingly this didn't go down too well with the Irish management, and coach Warren Gatland admitted they were "disappointed that he's made himself unavailable".

While acknowledging that Murphy's desire to rest his various knocks and bruises was "understandable", his decision to play for the Barbarians and not Ireland didn't "stack up".

Murphy had maintained that it hadn't been an easy decision, but his subsequent change of heart suggested that additional consultations had taken place during the day and that the advice he had received up until then had largely come from inside Leicester.

"I've had a think about it," said Murphy later on, "and if there was the slightest chance that it might be construed as me having turned my back on my country, it wouldn't be worth it and there would be no point in taking that risk. I am dedicated to playing for Ireland first and foremost.

"So I said I would travel over on Sunday night and let the Irish physios examine me. If I come through the game on Saturday and they decide it's good enough to carry on, then I may hook up with the Barbarians for their game in England (at Twickenham on Saturday week) and also play in the Romanian match. If they decide I should rest up for the Romanian game, then that comes first, and if they decide I should stop now I'll pull out of everything."

Having been a bit miffed earlier on, Gatland was suitably forgiving after Murphy rang to apologise for his "hasty" earlier decision. "You've got to admire him for doing that and I definitely won't be holding this against him," said Gatland. "He does have a niggling hamstring and he might not come through Sunday anyway. There's no point in him training if it risks further injury."

In short, though, it was the principle of playing for Ireland first that mattered. Having wondered aloud if the twice capped 23-year-old had been badly advised, Gatland commented:

"One of the things I felt when I first took over as Irish coach, with the team having 13 English-based players and two home-based, was that the players based abroad don't get a feel for what's happening here through reading newspapers, television, radio and talking to people, and so then sometimes you can make wrong decisions."

As Murphy stepped in, Anthony Horgan stepped out. The torn calf muscle sustained by Cork Constitution's injuryblighted winger compelled him to withdraw from the squad and he was replaced by Justin Bishop. Aside from him and Ireland's half-dozen Lions, injury also rules out Emmet Byrne, Leo Cullen, Bob Casey, Shane Horgan, Jeremy Staunton, Alan Quinlan, Tom Tierney and long-term casualty Simon Easterby.

Against that, Easterby's recuperated brother Guy is back in the fold for the first time this season, while others brought in from the cold include Jonathan Bell, Kevin Maggs and Paul Burke. There are also call-ups for uncapped players John Kelly, Simon Best and Shane Byrne - the Blackrock/Leinster hooker finally nearing that elusive first cap.

Gatland confirmed that the squad will probably be trimmed to about 24 at the end of the Limerick get-together for the subsequent trip to Romania. The Irish management also announced a squad of 40 for the two-week pre-season training camp in Poland at the end of June.