Munster and Ireland second row Mick O’Driscoll has confirmed that he will retire at the end of the current season ahead of Munster’s RaboDirect Pro12 clash with Llanelli on Saturday.
The 33-year-old has won 23 caps for Ireland and played his 204th game for the province against the Glasgow Warriors on Saturday.
He first played for the province in 1998 and has lined out 55 times for Munster in the Heineken Cup as well as seven times for Perpignan, with whom head a two-year spell in the middle of his career.
O’Driscoll has continued to be a prominent member of the Munster squad this year, playing in 17 of 27 games and captaining the team 10 times.
The last of his 23 caps came in 2011, 10 years after the first. He also captained the Munster team that narrowly lost to New Zealand in 2008.
O’Driscoll has been included in the squad to play Llanelli at Parc Y Scarlets on Saturday.
However, David Wallace and Ronan O’Gara are among the senior players not selected in the extended squad for that trip Wales. They join Munster’s extensive injury list with knee and leg problems respectively.
With two rounds remaining, Ulster, Munster and Glasgow Warriors are the three teams fighting it out for two RaboDirect Pro12 play-off places behind runaway leaders Leinster and the Ospreys.
Glasgow face Connacht at home and Benetton Treviso away and are likely to secure at least eight more points.
If Munster win the game and Ulster lose to Leinster at Ravenill on Friday, they will have secured a RaboDirect Pro12 play-off place.
If Ulster can stay in touch, it will mean qualification could come down to a final day showdown between the two teams at Thomond Park.
Munster Squad:
Forwards: M Horan, W du Preez, D Varley, M Sherry, D Fogarty, D Kilcoyne, J Ryan, BJ Botha, S Archer, M O’Driscoll, P O’Connell, D Ryan, D O’Callaghan, B Holland, T O’Donnell, P O’Mahony, P Butler.
Backs: T O’Leary, C Murray, D Williams, I Keatley, S Deasy, S Zebo, L Mafi, K Earls, I Dineen, J Murphy, L O’Dea, D Hurley, F Jones.
Unavailable for selection: J Coughlan (hand), D Wallace (knee), R O’Gara (leg), D Barnes (knee), D Foley (shoulder), I Nagle (shoulder), Dave O’Callaghan (knee), N Ronan (knee), D Leamy (hip), T Smith (knee), D Howlett (achilles), Darragh Hurley (back).
