Munster running out of front row options
There is a slight chance that Howlett will be available for the following week’s visit of Ulster to Thomond Park. The New Zealander pulled a hamstring in valiantly getting back to prevent a third Treviso try just before half-time in Saturday’s game and while it looked pretty serious at the time, the current prognosis is that the damage is a lot less than at first feared.
While Howlett has been in excellent form in recent weeks, his loss shouldn’t be too great given that Denis Hurley has turned in some outstanding displays on the wing already this season and was central to one of the side’s best attacks late in the Treviso game. And there are also several other options that coach Tony McGahan could consider for the visit to Murrayfield.
However, that is far from the case in the front-row where it looks as if Munster are now reduced to three fit props, Frenchman Julien Brugnaut at loose head, Darragh Hurley at tight head and former Irish under 20 international Stephen Archer, a member of the academy and who had a fine match for Munster A in the victory over Leinster A in Clonmel on Friday night.
He has also impressed in AIL action with Cork Constitution but is very much on the young side as yet and with back-up of the essence in the front-row, McGahan may well look to see if some of those props plying their trade at club level could step in on a temporary basis.
The picture concerning Marcus Horan won’t be clear until later in the week when he is due to see a specialist having been forced to leave the field after sixteen minutes against Treviso suffering from dizziness. A Munster spokesman stressed that when there is any question of a head injury, the player is immediately brought ashore for medical examination. That’s what happened in this case and there was no question of a “tactical substitution” as was inferred during the live Sky television coverage of Saturday’s game.
It is deemed possible that Tony Buckley could be back for the Ulster game on October 31st but as with all calf injuries, that situation will remain unclear for several more days. Buckley, in fact, has a similar injury to Jerry Flannery, the Munster and Ireland hooker whose hopes of being fit for Ireland’s clash with Australia on October 15th are rated no better than 50/50.
Munster’s problems in the front-row are, of course, compounded by John Hayes’s suspension which doesn’t end until November 7th, a free weekend in the Magners League.
Meanwhile, Irish citing official Murray Whyte was a busy man after watching the Northampton Saints v Perpignan game in Perpignan on Friday.
Yesterday, he cited Northampton prop Brian Mujati for allegedly pushing referee Nigel Owens in the back and the Saints second-row Juandre Kruger for allegedly stamping on Perpignan scrum-half Nicholas Durand.
* England prop Andrew Sheridan will miss the start of the RBS 6 Nations after being ruled out for four months with a dislocated shoulder.
Sheridan will undergo a full reconstruction of his left shoulder tomorrow after incurring the damage during a collapsed scrum in Sale’s Heineken Cup victory over Cardiff Blues on Friday night.
The destructive 29-year-old Lions loosehead will play no part in England’s autumn internationals against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand.
Instead, he must concentrate on returning in time for the third fixture of their Six Nations campaign against Ireland on February 27.
Should his rehabilitation take as long as predicted, Sheridan will miss the opener against Wales on February 6 and the trip to Italy eight days later.
Given his lack of match practice, England manager Martin Johnson may then have reservations about selecting him for the clash with Ireland at Twickenham.
Sheridan’s absence ensures England will enter a challenging autumn without two of their first-choice front rows after fellow Lion Lee Mears sustained a knee ligament injury on Heineken Cup duty for Bath.
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