Costello: We Need A Reaction Against Treviso
With the match reviews taking place in the respective centres yesterday, the Munster squad returned to the training ground at Cork IT today with the focus now on round 2 of the GUINNESS PRO12 against Benetton Treviso.
Assistant coach Ian Costello, Simon Zebo and Stephen Archer met with media after training this afternoon and Costello reiterated that last Friday night’s performance against Edinburgh ‘wasn’t close to good enough’.
And looking ahead to Munster’s clash with Treviso in Italy, he added: “We need a reaction this Friday with an improved collective performance and improved individual performances.”
Costello confirmed: “More internationals are starting to come back in and we will be hoping that we can select from the likes of Paulie (O’Connell), James Cronin, Conor (Murray) and Felix Jones over the next couple of weeks.
“Some will come back this week and some the week after, and it’s important for us to get that balance right when reintroducing players.”
Shane Buckley, who made his competitive debut against Edinburgh, received stitches above his eye but overall there were no fresh injury concerns to report following the 14-13 defeat at Thomond Park.
After missing out on selection last week due to bruised ribs, Robin Copeland returned to full training today and he will be monitored as the week continues, while Cian Bohane is meeting with a specialist this evening in identifying the full extent of his knee injury sustained recently against London Irish.
The Munster squad will complete their training on Wednesday in Limerick before travelling to Dublin that evening with an early Thursday morning departure for Italy.