Munster head coach Clayton McMillan confirmed that scrumhalf Craig Casey is likely to miss next Friday night’s URC match against Edinburgh at Virgin Media Park (7.45) but might be available for the clash with provincial rivals Leinster at Croke Park the following weekend.
Casey, who captained Ireland on their summer tour to Georgia and Portugal, suffered an injury at the back end of training last Tuesday. McMillan, who watched his team beat Cardiff 23-20 in the New Zealander’s first URC game in charge of Munster at Thomond Park, explained: “Yeah, it was a funny one. He just sort of pulled up a little bit lame at training with no apparent reason.
“We’ve had it scanned and it’s probably looking more like a hamstring injury at the lower end [of the scale]. But, you know, with guys that have got a little bit of pace, you just never quite know how long that’s going to put them out of the game.
“We’re hoping for the best, and at this stage it’s just a bit of a wait and see. But I don’t imagine he’ll be available [for the Edinburgh game], but the week after, a possibility.”
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He confirmed that wing Shane Daly had suffered a concussion on Saturday night and would follow the return to play protocols. Tom Farrell (calf), Mikey Milne (calf), John Ryan (elbow), Andrew Smith (chest) and Calvin Nash are all back in the selection hopper for Edinburgh, while secondrow Edwin Edogbo, who did the prematch warm-up against Cardiff, is also nearing a return after a long-term Achilles injury.
McMillan was asked about bringing in additional cover at tight head prop following Conor Bartley’s injury. He said: “I think we’re okay. We’ve got John Ryan back next week. Roman’s [Salanoa] had a big increase in his training load. We’ve got Ronan Foxe out there today. Oli’s [Jager] been going gun’s blazing.
“I just think there’s a couple of elements to that. If you talk specifically around the tight head spaces, if we’re going to bring anybody in, I don’t want to just bring any old body in. I want to bring somebody in that’s going to be worthy of coming in and being significantly better than what we have.
“And I’m still learning about the guys that we’ve got here, so I want to legitimately give them a bloody good shot at it before we make that decision. I won’t sit here and lie and say that across our whole squad that I’m not constantly looking and just seeing who might be out there in the event we need to go down that track.
[ Munster get first home URC win under Clayton McMillan against CardiffOpens in new window ]
“But I’m happy with what these boys are showing us. I think we owe it to them to give it the best nudge. If we have to cross that other bridge at some stage down the track, we’ll do that but that’s not our priority at the moment. We have got a number of guys starting to flow back in.
Ed [Edwin Edogbo] was out there. He warmed up. He’s looking good. Roman’s back there. We’ve got a number of backs that will be back in the mix next week. So, yeah, it’s not all doom and gloom.”
Leinster followed up last week’s 35-0 defeat to the Stormers with another loss, 39-31 to the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld, albeit on foot of a much-improved four-try performance. The Irish province was outscored six tries to four – Tom Clarkson, Hugh Cooney, Tommy O’Brien and Scott Penny – but were left to rue a late, intercept effort from David Kriel that cost them a second bonus point.
For the second season in succession, Kriel has proved a nemesis for Leinster, as he kicked an injury-time penalty to hand the Bulls a 31-30 win the last time the teams met in Pretoria. Leo Cullen’s side complete the hat-trick of South African sides to start the season when they host the Sharks at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday (5.30pm).
Storm Amy saw both Ulster’s game in Edinburgh and Connacht’s match at home to the Scarlets postponed. Richie Murphy’s Ulster host the Bulls at the Affidea Stadium next Saturday night (7.45pm), with Connacht facing Cardiff at the Arms Park on the same day. Both games kick off at 7.45pm.
