Munster check on some key playing resources ahead of hectic schedule

Keith Earls, Damian de Allende and Jason Jenkins all remain sidelined indefinitely, as well as RG Snyman, as Munster embark upon a hectic period in their season.

With their South African away games rescheduled for the last two weekends of the Six Nations on March 12th and 19th, Friday's URC encounter against old foes Glasgow in Scotstoun (kick-off 8.15pm, live on TG4) represents the first of 11 games in the next 12 weeks for Munster, who will be hopeful of extending that demanding sequence by advancing to the quarter-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup.

Earls has returned from the Irish camp to continue his hamstring rehab with his province, while De Allende has been sidelined since the New Year’s Day defeat by Connacht with a hip flexor/groin injury sustained in training.

Although Niall Scannell and Calvin Nash have resumed training, defence coach JP Ferreira could not put a timeline on a return for the other aforementioned players.

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“In the near future I can’t say he [De Allende] will be available for whatever game. It’s just how good he’s going to rehab and get himself right.”

Friday’s game against Glasgow, along with the Leinster-Edinburgh match, has been brought forward to accommodate rearranging Munster’s postponed St Stephen’s Day derby with Leinster at Thomond Park to the weekend of Saturday, May 21st.

Munster host Edinburgh on Friday week and the Dragons on March 5th and are now due to play the Bulls and the Lions on their refixed South African safari before then facing Leinster at the Aviva Stadium and their last 16 European ties against Exeter on three successive Saturdays at the start of April.

Explaining his decision to move on with Johann van Graan to Bath next season, Ferreira said: “There is a special bond between us in those terms but whether it’s here, whether it’s at Bath, whether it’s back home in South Africa or any other job you have to graft at it and by doing that the coach gets confidence in you. It is special, and yeah, a good opportunity for me.”

Their end goal at Munster is, as he put it, silverware.

“That has always been the case. Wherever you go that’s where you want to be, in a final in two competitions that stand a chance to win a cup. That’s always been the end goal. We haven’t spoken about the end goal at all this season. We’ve focused on week-in, week-out; the game that’s ahead which is obviously Glasgow this weekend.

“We’ve built some good solid foundations defensively and I suppose it’s never been about me. It’s always been about the players and getting players that you work with into the national camp, and the more you do that, and the more players you can get up there, that’s a tap on the back as coaches for yourself.

“If you look at the squad and the youngsters that we’ve brought through and how they’ve played, especially against Wasps when we were out with Covid, has been great.

So that for me is the big thing, how we get players through and how we grow them to be national players.”