Munster are set to be boosted by a raft of internationals ahead of their United Rugby Championship (URC) game against Connacht, with scrum-half Craig Casey the headline returnee.
The 25-year-old suffered a knee injury in his side’s Champions Cup loss to Castres back in December and missed the entirety of Ireland’s Six Nations campaign as a result.
Munster boosted as Ireland stars return to training
Casey is one of eight Ireland internationals back in the mix ahead of their inter-provincial clash this weekend. Tadhg Beirne, Jack Crowley, Conor Murray, Calvin Nash and Peter O’Mahony have all returned to training this week following their Six Nations break, and elsewhere Oli Jager and Jack O’Donoghue are also back up and running as well after overcoming injuries.
World Cup-winning Springbok Jean Kleyn is also back available for the first time since late October after overcoming a thigh injury.
Ian Costello will name his side on Friday at 12:00 pm.
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But, it isn’t all good news on the injury front for the Limerick-based outfit. Niall Scannell and Billy Burns are major injury doubts ahead of the game, and will both have their respective shoulder injuries assessed later this week.
Shane Daly, Diarmuid Kilgallen, Mike Haley, Dave Kilcoyne, Liam Coombes, Edwin Edogbo and Roman Salanoa are also still undergoing rehab on injuries.
Munster currently sit in sixth place in the URC table, and a win could even take them up to fifth in the table, depending on results elsewhere, however, they come into the game off the back of two straight defeats. They were edged 28-25 by defending champions Glasgow Warriors last time out, and also came up short against Edinburgh as they fell to a 34-28 loss at Thomond Park.
But, Connacht could also overtake them this weekend if they win. Despite sitting six places below Munster in the ladder, Pete Wilkins’ side are just three points off their opponents.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/munster-boosted-as-key-ireland-and-springbok-stars-return-for-urc-clash
