No speedy return for injured Reds

WHILE Tony McGahan had the luxury of naming an unchanged Munster squad for this Saturday’s Heineken Cup tie against Castres in Toulouse, the head coach downplayed hopes of a quicker than expected recovery for his long-term injured.

The sight of David Wallace, Keith Earls and Jerry Flannery all taking part in a Munster training session on Tuesday had raised hopes the injured trio may be back in action ahead of schedule but McGahan, who yesterday named a 30-man squad for the pool game against the French side, said there had been no shortening in the recovery timetables of Wallace (knee), Earls (knee), Flannery (back/calf), or indeed Felix Jones (ankle).

“Nothing’s really changed in that regard,” McGahan said. “David’s still around the end of March date for when he’s coming back. Felix Jones is middle or end of January and Jerry Flannery is, at this stage, indefinite. We just don’t have a clear picture of where that’s at unfortunately. We’d love to say this is the return date but with the nature of the injury and all the other circumstances in and around it, we don’t have a clear picture of when that could be.”