THE player in line to replace Joost van der Westhuizen at Newport is New Zealander Junior Tonnu'u, pictured, currently with London Irish.

He has won a few caps for New Zealand and was a member of the Auckland team which won three Super 12 titles in a row.

He has been with London Irish for the past few seasons and played for them against Ebbw Vale in the European Shield two seasons ago.

He is now in dispute with London Irish and could be available to Newport.

Top-rated players like George Gregan of Australia, All Black Justin Marshall and Wales' Gareth Cooper are all under contract.

Newport financial backer Tony Brown has, meanwhile, received full support from fans.

They all say he is blameless in the Joost van der Westhuizen saga, but they are furious with the player.

Newport captain Simon Raiwalui has reported fit to lead the side in tonight's Celtic League clash against Munster at Musgrave Park in Cork.

Raiwalui has recovered from the recurrence of a back injury he suffered against Edinburgh last Saturday.

"Munster are a very difficult side with a huge amount of experience in Europe, but we must look at our game and make progress," said director of rugby Allan Lewis.

"We have picked a strong side balanced with experience and some up and coming youngsters.

"And with players like Jason Strange, Emyr Lewis and Gareth Gravell making their first starts of the season that will give us an extra edge with them wanting to impress.

"We have to use the strength of our squad and I believe we have more strength in depth this season than in the last two years."

Newport: E Lewis, M Mostyn, A Marinos, J Pritchard, M Watkins, J Strange, D Burn, R Snow, J Richards, A Garvey, S Raiwalui (captain), M Voyle, P Buxton, A Powell, G Gravell.

Also, Shane Howarth has added another Newport qualification to his name -- he has now passed his professional certificate of business administration exams.