What to expect when Munster's Bok duo get going
SPOTLIGHT: Munster has confirmed that Springbok Damian de Allende is on track to feature for the province in next month’s Pro14 fixtures.
Munster announced the signing of World Cup-winner de Allende and his Springbok teammate Rudolph Snyman in January, with the pair both arriving in Ireland in recent weeks.
And the province has now confirmed that Munster supporters should get a first look at their new man when the Pro14 resumes in August.
The Munster squad are in their fourth week of training at their High-Performance Centre in Limerick following the easing of coronavirus restrictions in Ireland.
The squad train this week before taking nine days off, returning on Monday, July 27, with training stepping up a notch ahead of the two planned Pro14 derbies on the weekends of August 22/23 and August 29/30.
A number of players are expected to reintegrate into squad training when the team begin the second block on July 27.
De Allende is continuing to rehab a groin injury but is expected to be available for the August fixtures, representing a major boost for Munster head coach Johann van Graan.
In further good news for Munster, Tadhg Beirne (ankle), Keith Earls (calf), Calvin Nash (calf), John Ryan (shoulder) and Dave Kilcoyne – who sustained a calf injury during the early training weeks – are all in line to join the wider training group.
Gavin Coombes has been sidelined from training with non-COVID-19-related medical illness, while Mike Haley sustained a calf injury in the opening weeks of training and has commenced his rehabilitation programme.
Dan Goggin requires further review for a leg injury and will undergo a scan this week.
The province did not provide any further updates on injured trio Joey Carbery (wrist/ankle), Damian de Allende (groin) and Mike Haley (calf).
By Ciarán Kennedy, RugbyPass
