Irish rugby players, professional and amateur, will have woken this morning to a very different sporting landscape as their governing bodies called a halt to all playing activity in response to the growing threat of Covid-19 on these shores.

It will be a proud day for the Scannell/O’Sullivan families when Munster take the field against Zebre in the Guinness Pro14 in Milan tomorrow night.

Munster head coach Johann van Graan has lauded Rosscarbery native John Hodnett after his man of the match Pro 14 league debut in the runaway 68-3 victory over Southern Kings at Musgrave Park on Friday night.

Munster achieved their essential aim of taking all five Guinness Pro 14 points from the visit of the lowly Southern Kings by the half-time whistle at Musgrave Park and after that, it was little more than a romp for a bang-in-form home side who thrilled the appreciative Cork crowd of 6,854 with ten tries on a delightful evening for attacking football.

Further evidence of the influence of West Cork rugby in the Munster team has come with the inclusion of Rosscarbery flanker John Hodnett for his first Guinness Pro 14 start — against South African side Southern Kings — at Musgrave Park this evening, kick-off 7. 35.

The European debuts came thick and fast as Munster said their farewells to the Heineken Champions Cup for another season and made a determined change of direction towards the Guinness PRO14.

Johann van Graan is optimistic both Keith Earls and Chris Farrell will prove their fitness for Ireland ahead of the Guinness Six Nations opener at home to Scotland in 12 days.

A run of two wins from their last eight games has increased the focus on the squad and management for all the wrong reasons.

Munster lock Jean Kleyn has emerged as an injury doubt for Sunday’s Heineken Champions Cup pool finale at home to Ospreys, with Johann van Graan insisting his side is still alive in the competition.

There are three key metrics that Munster can use to measure progress, writes Owen Harrison.

In the end, there was simply too much firepower for Munster to cope with. They had battled hard for 70 minutes, taking a 22-20 lead into the endgame and keeping hopes of another European miracle alive.

Munster head coach Johann Van Graan admitted Racing 92’s late sucker punch was a bitter pill to swallow as his team’s Heineken Champions Cup hopes were all but ended.

Devastating finishing in the final 10 minutes sent Racing 92 into the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-finals as the Parisians finally broke Munster’s brave resistance and left their hopes of progressing to the knockout rounds hanging by a slender thread.

It says much about Munster’s standing in rugby country that their current state of ill health is consuming more column inches and debate than Leinster’s relentless march towards further glories.

The Munster head coach was able to select JJ Hanahan as his starting fly-half to face Racing 92 in Sunday’s crucial Heineken Champions Cup pool clash at La Défense Arena.

The Ulster website offered a taster of how the other province lives on Monday, with the club about to send out a welcome update to their fans ahead of a huge week of European rugby.

Johann van Graan has rated fly-half JJ Hanrahan’s chances of facing Racing 92 on Sunday in Paris as 50/50 with the Munster boss preparing to decide between rookie Ben Healy and Rory Scannell as his starting number 10 in the absence of Joey Carbery.

Joey Carbery looks set to come to Munster’s rescue in Belfast on Friday night with the fit-again Ireland fly-half covering the possible absence of JJ Hanrahan with a hamstring injury.

Johann van Graan was left counting the casualties as he turned his focus towards this Friday’s visit to Ulster having lost more players to injury in the 13-6 home defeat to Leinster on Saturday.

Given the trail of destruction Leinster have left in their wake on visits to opposition grounds this season, it would be easy to portray Munster as just another hapless victim of a superbly efficient rugby machine.

Johann van Graan was left to rue Munster’s failure to break down Leinster’s defences as Leo Cullen’s defending champions continued their 100 per cent start to the Guinness PRO14 campaign with a hard-fought victory at Thomond Park.

Johann van Graan hopes Joey Carbery will play his first game for Munster this season when they take on Leinster at Thomond Park on Saturday.

Munster coach said that 20-year old scrum-half Craig Casey has a bright career in front of him after an impressive first start.

"It’s good but it can be intimidating and if you’re not expecting it, it’s a very challenging place to go."

Munster have been counting the cost of their losses, with four Ireland internationals among those injured at Allianz Park.

Johann van Graan backed his players to make the right on-pitch decisions after Munster missed a chance to rescue a losing bonus point in a 15-6 defeat at Saracens today.

Having missed most of last season through injury, it is starting to look like Jack O’Donoghue has the spring back in his step.

Munster have reached one objective in this Heineken Champions Cup campaign by beating Saracens for the first time in five years last Saturday.

One man’s setback appears to be an opportunity for a couple of his team-mates as Johnny Sexton’s likely absence from the start of the Six Nations seems to have opened the door for a pair of Munster stars to take centre-stage with Ireland in the coming weeks.

Joey Carbery’s likely return from an ankle injury before the end of the year will be good news for Ireland in the absence of Johnny Sexton but Munster will have to plan without him and a handful of others for this Saturday’s trip to Saracens.

This weekend’s test will have to be negotiated without two fly-halves and a trio of front-rowers.

Saracens are set to bring their big guns back for the return match with Munster next weekend after leaving Limerick with a losing bonus point.

Johann van Graan admitted Saracens’ losing bonus point at Thomond Park could be crucial in the final shake-up in Munster’s European pool campaign.

Ask any Munster supporter their thoughts on the Saracens personnel coming to Thomond Park this evening and they will take the matchday squad named by Mark McCall yesterday in a heartbeat. Ask the Munster coaching group the same question and they will not be taking anything for granted.

Johann van Graan is not sugar-coating the concern within Munster about Tyler Bleyendaal’s return to the sidelines with another neck injury.

Munster coach Johann van Graan says that there needs to be a clampdown on players lifting the post-pads in an attempt to stop the opposition scoring.

Munster head coach Johann van Graan was keen to talk up the positives from his side’s home defeat to Edinburgh last Friday, but also reiterated that losing a home fixture was not something to be celebrated.

Johan van Graan has challenged Munster’s batch of young and inexperienced scrum-halves to step into the void left by the departing Alby Mathewson and apply the pressure on Conor Murray for the province’s No.9 jersey.

Peter O’Mahony admitted Munster’s quarter-final qualification hopes had taken a hit from Saturday’s home stalemate with Racing 92, but both he and Johann van Graan were staying positive ahead of back-to-back games against Saracens next month.