Munster defence coach Denis Leamy has confirmed that three players – winger Thaakir Abrahams (shoulder), and internationals Craig Casey (knee) and Jean Kleyn (thigh) – have all been ruled out for the next four months having undergone surgery last week.
They have joined a rehab list which already has 10 players on it as their injury woes continue. It also means that Casey, Ireland’s preferred second-choice scrumhalf to Jamison Gibson-Park at international level, will miss the entire Six Nations.
Thing could get even worse for Munster too. Impressive centre Alex Nankivell is undergoing a scan on a hamstring injury picked up against Ulster which saw tighthead Tom O’Toole sent off.
Munster defence coach Denis Leamy is at least confident that Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray and hooker Diarmuid Barron will be fit to play against Leinster at a sold-out Thomond Park on Friday night having come through training this Monday without any issue.
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Hooker Sean Buckley (calf) and international loosehead Dave Kilcoyne, just back after being out for a year with shoulder and ankle injuries, are heading for scans and possibly facing more time on the sideline.
“It’s cruel,” said Leamy about Kilcoyne’s injury in particular. “That’s the nature of the game, unfortunately. He’s put in a huge amount of work to get back on the field, and then suddenly you’re faced with that again. And it’s really, really disappointing, but we just try to keep the morale levels of the boys up and look, they’re great lads.
“They deal with their disappointment. They get their heads down. They start working again. It’s not ideal. It’s far from ideal, but, look, that’s the hand we’ve been dealt, and there’s a lot of work being done in the background to try and make us better and to try and prevent these sort of things happening again.
“It seems like we’ve had more than our fair share of injuries over the last year to 18 months. But look, it’s nothing that we’re not used to and we’ve been in this position before.
“It’s very disappointing for the boys, but, look, we have a very good medical team. We have a really good S&C team and hopefully we’ll get them back on the track as quickly as we can. But it’s next man up and on we go, and, we got to show some sort of resilience around us.”
Leamy, a veteran of 145 Munster games and 57 Irish appearances, has an unique insight into the biggest inter-pro rivalry having spent a couple of seasons with Leinster, initially as an elite player development officer and then as skills coach in 2021 under Leo Cullen.
He knows that Munster, having secured maximum points in Belfast for the first time in the professional era when over 300 tackles helped them to 22-19 win on Friday night, would secure a prized scalp if they ended Leinster’s 10-match winning start to the season.
“Well, look, I’m not going to sit here and say I didn’t learn an awful lot in Leinster. It was a brilliant environment, and I worked very closely with brilliant coaches and brilliant managers. And I was very lucky to do so, but I think it’s very different from what I can see over the last 12 months. There’s definitely a big change in mindset from what I can see.
“They are, how would I say, brilliantly boring, and I say that giving them a lot of credit and admiration, but you know, they kick the ball almost more than any other team in the league. They play territory more than any other team in the league. They’re just brutal then when they get into your score zone.
“They got this power-based game now that is really, really strong, and how you deny them access to that is the key thing. They back their defence, they back their kicking game. They don’t try to do too much in terms of overplaying, and they just strangle it, put you down into the 22, and then there’s big powerful men running down on top of you. And they’re a handful.
“Any time Munster play Leinster, whatever side you’re on, it’s a great derby. It’s a great tradition. The winners certainly get the bragging rights. And, look, we have an awful tough game to get through and an awful lot to do before we get to that stage. But, look, beating Leinster will be a great achievement.”
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