Holah Cleared To Play

New Zealander Marty Holah will take his place in the Ospreys back row for Sunday’s Heineken Cup clash with Munster following his successful appeal this evening to a two week suspension handed down earlier in the week.

The  34-year-old flanker was cited following the 33-16 win over Edinburgh and suspended for a fortnight by a Welsh Rugby Union disciplinary committee having been found to have tripped Chris Paterson and playing an opponent without the ball.

Both offences were deemed to be “mid-range” but the WRU professional disciplinary panel, chaired by Terry Vaux, gave Holah a two-week ban last Tuesday after mitigating factors were taken into account.

However, not surprisingly, the Ospreys appealed the decision and tonight at the Millennium Stadium, a WRU professional disciplinary panel, chaired by Roger Morris, upheld the Ospreys' appeal.

It's a significant outcome as Holah is a hugely influential figure in the Ospreys team and would have been a bigger loss to them than either Lee Byrne or Shane Williams.

Ospreys: Barry Davies; Tommy Bowe, Andrew Bishop, James Hook, Richard Fussell; Dan Biggar, Mike Phillips; Paul James, Richard Hibbard, Adam Jones; Ryan Jones, Alun Wyn Jones; Jerry Collins, Marty Holah, Jonathan Thomas. Replacements: Mefin Davies, Duncan Jones, Craig Mitchell, Ian Gough, Justin Tupuric, Jamie Nutbrown, Sonny Parker, Nikki Walker.