Cronin And Buckley Pick Up Injuries
Following Friday night’s European and British & Irish Cup action, there were the expected bumps and bruises reported at the Munster squad bases in Cork and Limerick today.
On the casualty front, there are two injury concerns with forwards James Cronin and Shane Buckley both picking up knocks in their respective Friday night appearances.
Loosehead prop Cronin, who was replaced by Dave Kilcoyne after 61 minutes against Saracens at Thomond Park, sustained an ankle injury and is due to meet with the specialist later this week. He will not join the Ireland squad at Carton House tomorrow.
Back rower Buckley sustained a shoulder injury during the British & Irish Cup win over Nottingham and is expected to be sidelined for three to four weeks.
With ten Munster players departing for Carton House, both Johnny Holland and Sean Dougall made a timely return from respective shoulder injuries when lining out for Munster ‘A’ on Friday night, and are reporting no ill-effects from the experience.
After undergoing surgery on his foot last week, hooker Damien Varley is now on crutches and will commence his rehab once the initial post-op healing is complete.
Meanwhile, development prop Martin Kelly, who joined the province over the summer, has been rehabbing a calf injury and is progressing well. Kelly and Dave O’Callaghan (knee) are moving closer to a return to play as they advance with their rehab training.
The Munster squad will meet in Limerick tomorrow for their training session in preparation for their GUINNESS PRO12 game away to Cardiff Blues on Saturday.