Wood Cup woe for Quins

Harlequins, reeling from five successive Zurich Premiership defeats, could be without Ireland captain Keith Wood for the rest of January.

Wood tore his calf muscle against Sale last month but was confident of being ready to take on Leicester in the quarter-final of the Powergen Cup at The Stoop on 19 January.

However, he now looks like missing that game and this month's two Heineken Cup pool matches.

Mark Evans, the Quins chief executive, said: "Keith could be out for another four weeks. We are monitoring the injury and it's difficult to say just when he is going to be ready to play.

"We have a big game at Munster in the Heineken Cup on Saturday followed by another European match with Bridgend a week later.

"While there are doubts over Keith, we have got lock Steve White-Cooper and prop Adrian Olver ready to return and despite the league defeats we are still in good heart."

New Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan summed up the challenge facing Quins in Limerick this weekend, stating: "Munster have an outstanding record in Europe, built on a huge esprit de corps and a belief they can win any game when it comes down to the wire. Thomond Park is probably the one ground all other teams hate travelling to. Munster have made it into a fortress."

Meanwhile, former captain David Wilson, injured helping Quins win the European Shield last May, is expected to fly in from Australia next month and confirm his intention to play for the club next season despite extensive knee surgery.

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