Ahead of the sold-out New Year’s Day clash between Connacht and Munster at the Sportsground, Pat Lam’s men were back to work on Sunday in advance of the arrival of their provincial rivals to Galway on Thursday (kick-off 5pm).
Following the 13-10 defeat to Ulster in Belfast last Friday, there were injury concerns around late withdrawals Ronan Loughney and Quinn Roux. Galway man Loughney, who aggravated his back in training last week, remains a doubt for this week’s derby, while second row Roux is on track for a return after symptoms from the ankle injury sustained in Friday’s warm-up improved.
The province’s most-capped player, Michael Swift, has been entered in to the return-to-play programme for a concussion he suffered in training last week. It is expected that the veteran lock will be out of action for two to three weeks.
Scrum half Ian Porter is also facing a similar spell on the sidelines as he continues rehab on a mid-foot sprain.
Meanwhile, back rower Eoin McKeon, who missed the last round due to a knee sprain, returned to full training yesterday and is available for selection this week.
Similarly, centurion Fionn Carr, who completed the return-to-play protocols for concussion, resumed full training this week and is now available to the coaching staff.
Mick Kearney (ankle) and Tiernan O’Halloran (knee) both commenced running on Monday but the duo are another two to three weeks away from any match action.
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