Paul O'Connell will miss Munster's Heineken Cup semi-final © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Paul O'Connell

Tournaments/Tours: Heineken Cup

Teams: Biarritz | France | Ireland | Munster

Munster will travel to San Sebastian for their Heineken Cup semi-final showdown against Biarritz without injured skipper Paul O'Connell.

The lock has failed to recover from the groin problem that has plagued him since the end of Ireland's Six Nations campaign, opening the door for Mick O'Driscoll to deputise in the second-row. O'Driscoll put in an excellent shift during the quarter-final win over Northampton and looks likely to join Donncha O'Callaghan in the starting line-up.

"Paul hasn't played for us since January so it's a fair block of time since he's trained with us or been anywhere near the training pitch," said Munster coach Tony McGahan.

"It's been a long saga since the Six Nations. We tried a number of remedies and recommendations but at this stage he was too far gone.

"For this particular week he's just not ready. To be out for that length of time he needs to have trained and next week's game is on a Sunday so that means he won't train again until next Wednesday."

In more positive news for the two-time champions, centre Keith Earls, No.8 Nick Williams and wings Doug Howlett and Ian Dowling have been included in the squad after injury worries.

Biarritz have injury concerns of their own prior to the tie, a re-run of the 2006 final, as centre Damien Traille has been ruled out with a forearm injury picked up in a league defeat to Clermont last weekend. There are also doubts over No.8 Imanol Harinordoquy, who is wearing a cast after undergoing surgery on a broken nose.

Munster squad: Marcus Horan, Tony Buckley, Julien Brugnaut, John Hayes, Damien Varley, Jerry Flannery, Mick O'Driscoll, Billy Holland, Donncha O'Callaghan, Alan Quinlan, David Wallace, Nick Williams, James Coughlan, Niall Ronan, Tomas O'Leary, Peter Stringer, Ronan O'Gara, Paul Warwick, Lifeimi Mafi, Jean de Villiers, Tom Gleeson, Doug Howlett, Denis Hurley, Ian Dowling, Keith Earls, Scott Deasy.