THE lrish are gatecrashing the party big time, and not only should the Welsh clubs be concerned, but Wales coach Graham Henry must be a worried man as well.

After his weekend brush with danger when he risked his all abseiling down the Millennium Stadium for charity, he might be considering pressing the panic button for other reasons.

On Thursday he names the Welsh team for next Wednesday's friendly against Romania, arranged as a warm-up for the held-over Six Nations clash against Ireland.

Henry must be worried on two counts - the high number of injuries among leading Welsh players and the form of the Irish provinces in the Celtic League.

Teams from across the channel are dominating the newly formed league, Leinster and Munster looking particularly dangerous.

Leinster look the form team with some crushing victories, putting big spending Bridgend to the sword at the Brewery Field last Saturday - and they have yet to introduce British Lions ace Brian O'Driscoll.

Leinster and Ulster are in the top three in Pool A, with Munster threatening in second place in Pool B.

And Connacht, the least fancied of the four Irish provinces, have won at Cardiff Arms Park and toppled previously unbeaten Neath.

Take that with Glasgow who have thrashed Pontypridd and won at Swansea and. the Welsh teams are hardly getting a look-in.

Only Llanelli and Neath look pretty sure of making the quarter-finals of the Celtic League, with Newport and Cardiff needing to win games and the rest looking like falling by the wayside.

Add to all that the horrendous injury list and Welsh backs really are up against the wall.

A trio of wingers - Shane Williams, Mark Jones and Craig Morgan are out while Mark Taylor won't resume until January at the earliest and Neil Jenkins has got knee problems

Up front Darren Morris is out with knee injuries, Ian Gough is sidelined by shoulder trouble, Scott Quinnell has also undergone knee surgery and Martyn Williams could be out for the season with a damaged shoulder.

That severely cuts down Henry's options, and there is no point experimenting against Romania because essentially the game will be a run-out for the side likely to go in against Ireland.

The durable centre partnership of 30-somethings Scott Gibbs and Allan Bateman could be reunited, Stephen Jones is outside half favourite while Gwent could be down to just one player Ebbw Vale loose head prop Iestyn Thomas.

But the biggest talking point could revolve around the likely recall of Brett Sinkinson, now eligible again after'grannygate'.

The team could line up like this: Kevin Morgan, Gareth Thomas, Allan Bateman, Scott Gibbs, Dafydd James, Stephen Jones, Rob Howley, lestyn Thomas Robin McBryde, David Young, Craig Quinnell, Andy Moore, Colin Charvis, Geraint Lewis, Brett Sinkinson.