Gloucester could recall England centre Mike Tindall for Saturday’s Heineken Cup quarter-final against Munster.

The 2003 World Cup winner has been sidelined since suffering a bruised liver in England’s opening Six Nations defeat by Wales in early February.

Meanwhile, Munster coach Declan Kidney has named a full-strength 27-man squad for the game at Kingsholm.

Rua Tipoki, who has been a fitness concern because of a back injury, took a full part in training on Tuesday.

Speaking on Wednesday about Tindall’s possible involvement, coach Dean Ryan told BBC Radio Gloucestershire: “”He’s back training with us and it’s the first week he’s been back in terms of being around the side.

“It would be lovely to think he could be an option, but it’s a bit early in the week to say whether that’s possible or not.
“He has trained fully on Monday, Tuesday and today and if he reacts OK over the next day or so, he’s a possible.”

Munster are aiming to regain the trophy they won two seasons ago.

The winners of Saturday’s game will be away in the semi-finals against either Saracens - at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena - or the Ospreys - at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

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Gloucester: (tbc)

Munster: (from) John Hayes, Marcus Horan, Tony Buckley, Federico Pucciariello, Jerry Flannery, Frank Sheahan, Paul O’Connell, Donncha O’Callaghan, Donnacha Ryan, M O’Driscoll, Alan Quinlan, David Wallace, Denis Leamy, Anthony Foley, Niall Ronan, Shaun Payne, Denis Hurley, Doug Howlett, Kieran Lewis, Rua Tipoki, Lifeimi Mafi, Brian Carney, Ian Dowling, Paul Warwick, Ronan O’Gara, Tomas O’Leary, Peter Stringer.

European champions Wasps crashed out of this year’s Heineken Cup after losing a fiery encounter at Thomond Park.

Four penalties from outside-half Ronan O’Gara and a late try from Denis Leamy sent Munster into the quarter-finals for the 10th season in a row.

Wasps were well short of their best and never looked like scoring a try, Danny Cipriani’s penalty their sole points.

Clermont Auvergne’s bonus-point victory over the Scarlets relegated Wasps to third place in the group.

The first half was tight and tense and in poor conditions free-flowing rugby was never possible.

Instead both sides had to rely on their fly-halves to kick for territory and set the platform for the forwards to attack.

And in Cipriani and O’Gara, Wasps and Munster had two men playing at the top of their games.

Any idea that the young, inexperienced Cipriani would be fazed by such an occasion were soon put to bed when the Wasps number 10 booted a 45m penalty between the posts after only four minutes.

But O’Gara responded a few moments later with both sides struggling to keep the penalty count down.

Cipriani failed with a similar effort and Wasps were left to rue that missed kick as Munster took their opportunity to take control of the game.

With the home pack adjusting better to the awful conditions, coupled with Wasps’ inability to secure their own line-out, it was Munster who started to convert pressure into points.

 Lock Donncha O’Callaghan in particular was a constant nuisance to the Wasps line-out, giving hooker Raphael Ibanez a torrid time.

With Leamy - for hands in a ruck - and Simon Shaw - for not retreating 10m - in the sin-bin, O’Gara sent over his second penalty for a three-point lead.

The game often spilled over with passions running high and Lawrence Dallaglio was involved in several scuffles with the Munster forwards.

Just before the break O’Gara extended the lead to six points as Wasps struggled to make any impact in the game.

Wasps’ task was made all the more difficult with Shaw leaving the field with a worrying looking leg injury that stopped play for several minutes.

Shaw was later taken to hospital, leaving him a concern for England as they begin their Six Nations preparations on Monday.

The biggest cheer of the night came moments later after Dallaglio was yellow-carded for infringing at a ruck.

O’Gara punished the European champions with his fourth penalty as Munster continued to turn the screw.

Late on Munster went through 21 phases in a thrilling move that ended with Leamy going over in the corner to send the home support wild.

O’Gara added the extras to extend his haul to 14 points for the night as Munster marched on into the last eight.

Munster mastered the dreadful weather conditions at Musgrave Park to claim a comfortable victory over Connacht in the Magners League.

After playing with the wind, Munster led 12-0 at the interval with Paul Warwick landing four penalties.

Connacht had the advantage of the elements after half-time but Munster dominated possession and Denis Leamy added a 68th-minute try.

The one downside for Munster was having Ian Dowling stretchered off late on.
Munster took the lead on 11 minutes when former Connacht fly-half Warwick landed a penalty.

Backchat from Jonny O’Connor made Warwick’s task considerably easier in the 17th minute as he slotted another penalty after the Ireland flanker had been further penalised with the ball being moved nearer the Connacht posts.

Intense Munster pressure looked certain to result in a try in the 23rd minute but the Connacht defence held out manfully.
Connacht lost scrum-half Ofisa Treviranus because of injury on 27 minutes with Conor McPhillips introduced.

Warwick slotted his third successful penalty on 36 minutes after David Gannon had been yellow carded for persistent infringements. 

Munster’s lead was 12-0 on 39 minutes with Warwick again on target.

Daniel Riordan’s run did threaten the Munster defence in first-half injury-time but the home team held out to keep Connacht scoreless in the first half.

Connacht needed a score soon after the break but all they had to show in the 10 minutes after half-time was another break by Riordan which was eventually snuffed out by the Munster defence.

The Munster pack’s “stick-it-up-your-jumper” approach meant Connacht were starved of possession and unable to take advantage of the gale force wind advantage.

Connacht weren’t helped by a couple of debatable refereeing decisions including when O’Connor looked to have a clear run to the Munster line on the hour, only for a penalty to be awarded to the home side.

Munster’s victory was assured when Leamy ran in his try in the 68th minute after Tony Buckley’s drive and off-load.

Wing Dowling was stretchered off late in the game with what appeared to be a knee injury.

John Kelly received a big reception from the Musgrave Park crowd after his late substitution in his final appearance for Munster.

Connacht produced late pressure but the Munster defence held firm to keep their opponents scoreless.

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Munster: D Hurley; J Kelly, K Lewis, L Mafi, I Dowling; P Warwick, P Stringer; F Pucciariello, F Sheahan, T Buckley, D O’Callaghan, D Ryan, D Leamy, N Ronan, A Foley.
Replacements: G Hurley for Kelly (80), B Murphy for Dowling (75), M Horan for Pucciariello (73), J Coughlan for Ronan (80).
Not Used: J Flannery, M O’Driscoll, R O’Gara.

Connacht: G Duffy, D Yapp, D Riordan, A Wynne, O Treviranus, A Dunne, C O’Loughlin; B Wilkinson, A Flavin, R Loughrey, M Swift, D Gannon, M McCarthy, J O’Connor, J Muldoon.
Replacements: B McGovern for Loughney (71), A Browne for Swift (58), A Farley for Gannon (44), C Rigney for Muldoon (40), C McPhillips for Treviranus 26.
Not used: P Durcan, J Fogarty.

Defending champions Wasps twice came from 10 points down to prevail over 2006 champions Munster in a gripping Heineken Cup pool clash in Coventry.

After an early exchange of penalties, Rua Tipoki’s converted try put Munster 13-3 up, but Riki Flutey’s converted try levelled matters on the half-hour.

Shaun Payne’s try gave the Irish province a 20-13 half-time lead.

But Dan Cipriani landed two penalties, George Skivington’s try put Wasps ahead and they held on in a frantic finale.

It was a rousing encounter that, while not reaching the dazzling heights of their epic 2004 semi-final, provided tremendous entertainment for a crowd of 21,506, swelled by plenty of Munster fans, at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena.

Ronan O’Gara, putting his World Cup nightmare firmly behind him, tested the Wasps defence with a series of high kicks and probing grubbers which yielded a penalty after five minutes which the fly-half stroked over.

Cipriani swiftly levelled with one of his own but O’Gara continued to move the hosts around and kicked a second penalty before Munster split the Wasps defence wide open.

Lefeimi Mafi raced onto O’Gara’s flat pass straight between Flutey and Fraser Waters, and a simple off-load put Tipoki in under the posts, giving O’Gara an easy conversion.

Ten points adrift, Wasps launched an immediate riposte as Paul Sackey stepped inside two tacklers to release Cipriani, but the pass was adjudged forward and the try disallowed.

Wasps were not denied for long though. Cipriani landed his second penalty to make it 13-6 before Eoin Reddan’s box-kick yielded an equalising try on the half-hour.

Munster wing Anthony Horgan made a hash of collecting it and Flutey was onto the loose ball in a flash, avoiding O’Gara’s desperate dive to streak away.

Cipriani’s conversion levelled it at 13-13 and Munster endured a torrid 10 minutes as Wasps upped the ante, but Sackey was unable to ground the ball after taking a quick tap penalty.
 
Under the cosh, Munster rallied superbly and hit back with the last move of the half.

O’Gara’s precise grubber unhinged Wasps’ rush defence and Payne, recalled to the side after being made team manager this season, pounced in the left corner, O’Gara converting.

Suitably stung, Wasps started the second half at a great lick but found themselves 10 points down again as O’Gara landed his third penalty.

But two Cipriani penalties, the second after Munster prop Marcus Horan was sin-binned for coming in the side of a ruck, brought Wasps to within four points.

And they profited from the man advantage with a sweeping move to take the lead, Flutey’s dynamic break and Tom Voyce’s pass allowing lock Skivington to stretch over.

That ensured a nervous final quarter, with both sets of fans left biting their nails through five minutes of injury-time.

But Munster were unable to generate a scoring position as Wasps held on for a vital victory in a devilishly difficult group, the Irish marauders having to settle for a bonus point.

New Zealand wing Doug Howlett will join Irish province Munster after the World Cup on a two-and-a-half-year deal. The 28-year-old is the latest big name to join the exodus of players from the southern hemisphere to Europe.

Howlett told Munster’s website: “I have had an amazing rugby career in New Zealand and I am grateful to every person who has contributed to that.

“I consider Munster a fantastic opportunity to experience a different lifestyle with my family.”

Howlett, who has scored 43 tries for the All Blacks, will join former Heineken Cup champions Munster on 1 January 2008.

Munster Rugby director of coaching Declan Kidney said: “We are delighted to have someone of Doug’s calibre and quality joining the squad.”

Howlett joins fellow All Blacks Carl Hayman, Chris Jack, Luke McAlister, Byron Kelleher, Aaron Mauger and Rico Gear in moving to Europe.

All Blacks Coach Graham Henry said: “Doug is a quality international player who has proven his ability at the highest level.

“Although it is disappointing to see a player of his class go overseas, we’ll remember the outstanding contribution he has made to New Zealand rugby.”

It is not only big names from New Zealand who are heading north after the World Cup.

Australia stars George Gregan and Stephen Larkham and South Africa players Victor Matfield, John Smit, Butch James and Ashwin Willemse have also signed for European clubs.