The Munster medical update that will have the Bok coaches purring
The Munster squad resumed preparations on Monday ahead of Friday’s United Rugby Championship Round 15 clash against Scarlets at Musgrave Park.
Munster has four games to play in the regular season of the URC and is well in the hunt for a place in the top eight – the play-offs.
Next up for Graham Rowntree’s side is a clash against Scarlets at Musgrave Park on Friday.
Scarlets are on a six-match winning streak and were big winners over Edinburgh last time out, winning 42-14.
Munster are fifth in the table ahead of the Scarlets clash and face fourth-placed Glasgow Warriors at Thomond Park in the final home game of the regular season on Saturday, March 25.
Following those two home games, Munster will be away to the Sharks in the Champions Cup Round of 16 on Saturday, April 1.
The final two games of the URC regular season are away to Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday, April 15, and against Sharks again in Durban for the final game of the regular season on Saturday, April 22.
Teams who finish in the top four will have home advantage in the URC quarterfinals that take place on the weekend of May 5/6/7.
However, the real BIG news coming out of Munster HQ is that World Cup-winning Springbok Rudolf Snyman has not only returned to training with the squad in recent weeks, but he is available for selection.
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His return will also give him a chance to get back in contention for Springbok selection for the Rugby Championship and ultimately stake a claim at World Cup selection.
The star has recovered from a second successive cruciate knee injury, following a setback in his recovery at the start of the season.
Snyman has endured a dreadful time since joining the Irish province two years ago.
He has only played four times for Munster, with injuries and a firepit accident in June 2021 keeping him on the sidelines.
Calvin Nash (chest), Jack O’Donoghue (calf), Paddy Patterson (calf) and Jack O’Sullivan (thigh) have all returned to training and their availability will be determined later in the week.
Liam Coombes will begin rehabilitation with the medical department for a thigh injury.
Continuing their rehab are Keith Earls (calf), Tadhg Beirne (ankle), James French (leg), Liam O’Connor (neck), Chris Moore (neck), Mike Haley (ankle), Tom Ahern (shoulder), Eoin O’Connor (shoulder), Paddy Kelly (head), Jack Daly (knee), Andrew Conway (knee).
* Meanwhile, there were seven Munster players in international action at the weekend.
Craig Casey made his first Six Nations start against Italy in Rome, with Jack Crowley making his Six Nations debut off the bench.
Dave Kilcoyne, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray also featured as Ireland made it three bonus-point wins in three games.
The Ireland Under-20 team also secured maximum points with Academy pair Ruadhán Quinn and Evan O’Connell in action against Italy alongside fellow Munster men Brian Gleeson, Danny Sheahan and Jacob Sheahan.
Joey Carbery, Jack Crowley, Gavin Coombes and Roman Salanoa have all been released back to the Munster squad from Ireland camp with no 6 Nations action this weekend.
Ben Healy will also rejoin his Munster teammates from Scotland camp.
