Although Munster’s bonus-point win against the Bulls was a timely fillip in advance of their clash with Leinster at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 5.15pm), the province are anxiously awaiting scans on a number of players who sustained injuries in that game at Thomond Park last Saturday night.
Stephen Archer (ankle), Edwin Edogbo (calf), Craig Casey (groin) and Tadhg Beirne (groin) will all undergo scans and their availability for the match against Leinster will be determined later in the week.
Winger Calvin Nash is also a doubt after he was removed at half-time against the Bulls with a thigh injury.
This could add to Munster’s list of outside backs who are currently sidelined, and despite Graham Rowntree not ruling out hope of those problems being eased this week, the experienced international trio of Keith Earls (thigh), Andrew Conway (knee) and Simon Zebo (calf) have all again been ruled out.
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Furthermore, prop Roman Salanoa suffered a head injury in the final play of the match and will undergo the return to play protocols, while the newly acquired centre Antoine Frisch is rehabbing a calf injury suffered on the Emerging Ireland tour.
This adds to a casualty list which also includes RG Snyman (knee), Jack Daly (knee), Alex Kendellen (head), Paddy Kelly (head) and Fineen Wycherley (shoulder).
Forwards coach Andi Kyriacou stressed that the seven-day turnaround will help the recovery time for those who sustained knocks against the Bulls.
“That’s the beauty of going Saturday to Saturday, we get that extra day’s work and time for lads to recover. Our medical team is doing a hell of a job trying to get these lads patched up. We’ll see, we will make some decisions on Thursday. We will keep our cards close to our chest on that one and just give the lads as much time as possible so we can get them out on the field.”
Regarding Beirne’s injury and whether it might jeopardise his involvement in Ireland’s November Tests, beginning with the Springboks a fortnight from next Saturday, Kyriacou implied that he might not be risked against Leinster.
“We’ve just got to give him as much time as we can. I’m sure his body will let us know in good time.
“We obviously want him out playing for us but I feel that where we are this time of year, rolling into the World Cup as well, we’ve got to give the lads as much of a chance as possible as well to go and play for Ireland.
“So we’ll take advice from the medical team and Tadhg’s body itself and between those two they’ll let us know.”
As for his availability next Saturday, Kyriacou said: “We’ll see. I’ve got no idea. I’m sorry about that. I’d love to give you a headline or a story or something but I don’t know. I definitely don’t know that. We’ll have to wait and see in terms of what the lads come back with.”
Munster have a poor record against Leinster in Dublin, and specifically in the Aviva Stadium, but Kyriacou maintained: “It’s massively exciting to go up to Dublin and I’m sure they’ll go pretty big in terms of selection. It’s a great challenge for us to see where we’re at coming off the back of that physical encounter last week and how well we did in certain areas.
“We just want to keep growing our performances and just transferring the work we’re doing and being consistent in what we’re doing. That’s what we’re striving for with our performance on the field.”
