Munster Come Through Cork Win Unscathed
In sharp contrast to the Ireland squad 24 hours later, Munster came out of their RaboDirect PRO12 victory over Edinburgh with a clean bill of health.
Munster head coach Rob Penney will be disappointed with the news that Simon Zebo is facing an eight to ten-week lay-off after breaking a bone in his right foot early on in yesterday’s Ireland-England clash.
The fitness of another Munster player, second row Donnacha Ryan, will also be monitored closely. He injured his back during the England game and will see a specialist later this week.
Penney will be pleased though that Stephen Archer, Barry O’Mahony and Sean Scanlon are now back on the province’s radar. The trio are due to return to full training on Tuesday.
It is a little soon at this stage to know if prop Archer will be in contention for the RaboDirect PRO12 match away to the Scarlets on Saturday, but O’Mahony and Scanlon should be in the mix for selection.
The Scarlets beat Munster 13-6 at Musgrave Park earlier in the campaign. At the third attempt, Munster earned their first competitive win in Cork under Penney on Saturday night with a 30-3 dismissal of Edinburgh.
Out-half Ian Keatley turned in a man-of-the-match performance, kicking 20 points in all. CJ Stander and replacement Mike Sherry supplied the final touches with a try apiece in the final quarter.
After Munster outscored the Scots 24-0 in the second half, Penney said: “The way they played in the second half was commanding. I don’t think they (Edinburgh) had the ball in the first 20 minutes of the second half.
“We just dominated possession and territory and sucked the life out of them. We have slipped up a couple of times here (in Cork), so it was really important for us to get a win here.
“Especially in front of the Cork supporters and the Munster people from this side of the region because it hasn’t been pretty up until now, but hopefully the boys are seeing the benefit of being a little bit patient.
“The lads played some really attractive footie out there and proved you can get a result by playing that sort of rugby. It was great in those (wet) conditions.”
Experienced flanker Niall Ronan is expected to take a limited part in squad training this week, while Munster captain Doug Howlett and Felix Jones – both of whom underwent minor knee surgery recently – are on course for a return to action sometime towards the end of the month.
Howlett, in the absence of Niall O’Donovan on Saturday, took over the team manager’s role for the game against Edinburgh.