O'Sullivan's injury (medial ligament) is the more serious in that he is expected to be out of action for six weeks while Halstead (calf strain) has not been ruled out of consideration for the final Pool game against Leicester Tigers on January 20th.

There was better news of Jeremy Manning however. The out-half retired in the 30th minute at Rodney Parade with a damaged shoulder but a scan revealed that he suffered nothing other than soft tissue damage and he remains hopeful of being available for the trip to Geneva.

Barry Murphy who missed the trip to Wales with a stomach bug was back training today to good effect. Jerry Flannery also took a full part and it remains to be seen how he comes through that but Denis Leamy, another cry-ff for the Dragons game, didn't train with the rest of the squad but that was purely precautionary and he is expected to be in the squad when coach Declan Kidney announces it after training on Wednesday.