Munster’s Ronan gets all-clear as Scarlets forward Ball cited for challenge

Munster wing-forward Niall Ronan was discharged from Cork University Hospital yesterday having been assured he will suffer no long-term damage from the head and neck injuries he sustained in Sunday’s RaboDirect Pro12 game against the Scarlets at Musgrave Park.

Scans after the game and again yesterday showed up little more than bruising and while it is most unlikely he will be considered for Saturday’s visit of Glasgow Warriors to Thomond Park, Ronan could return to training next week and be in contention for the crucial Heineken Cup clash with Saracens on Saturday week, December 8.

Sources close to the Munster camp have expressed their annoyance at the challenge by Scarlets forward Jake Ball that caused Ronan’s injury.

Ball was yesterday cited for the incident by the Pro12 Citing Commissioner appointed for the match and the hearing will be held in front of an independent RaboDirect Pro12 disciplinary committee.

Meanwhile, coach Rob Penney won’t know until today’s session at UL about the availability of his players who have been involved with Ireland over the past month for the Warriors game.

The near certainty is that South African CJ Stander, who was drafted in as Ronan’s replacement against the Scarlets and came within inches of scoring a try, will be involved from the start. It is especially important that Stander should measure up given the injuries to back-row players. The good news, however, is that James Coughlan, who has missed most of the season so far because of groin trouble, and Tommy O’Donnell, will be available next weekend.

“With a bit of luck, James will be in the mix and Tommy should be in the frame as well,” said Penney who remains philosophical about the bad luck his back-rowers have been suffering. “Injuries are going to happen and we have some capable young men to fill spots which is great. Dave O’Callaghan and Paddy Butler are shouldering a lot of workload at the moment and Paddy’s not 21 yet. That’s a massive workload for a young man to be expected to do at No 8 and he’s doing a great job. So it will be nice to have some of those boys coming back on stream to take the pressure off a little bit.”

Meanwhile, Saturday’s comprehensive victory over Argentina means Ireland are now safely into Band 2 for the qualifying rounds of the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.

Teams placed one to four in the world rankings will comprise band number 1 and will be drawn randomly across the four World Cup pools, so will crucially avoid playing each other until the knockout stages.

The teams ranked five to eight will form band 2 and the remaining four directly-qualified teams are in band 3. The eight places available through qualifying will be split into bands four and five according to strength.