Munster boss Penney admits Ryan may be out until new year

Munster are bracing themselves for being without Donnacha Ryan until the new year after the Ireland lock was ruled out of action for up to 10 weeks with a knee injury.

Ryan, 29, strained a number of ligaments during a midair collision with Gloucester’s Rob Cook during last Saturday’s Heineken Cup Pool 6 game at Thomond Park.

Aside from being unavailable for tomorrow night’s top-of-the-table clash at RaboDirect Pro12 leaders Glasgow, Ryan will miss next month’s autumn internationals with Ireland against Samoa, Australia and New Zealand, and looks set to sit out Munster’s European home-and-away clashes with Perpignan in mid-December, at the very least.

Munster head coach Rob Penney said yesterday the Tipperary man could return ahead of schedule if his recovery goes well but the province was not going to set unrealistic targets.

“There are a number of ligament strains and he’s got a big rehab component in front of him.” Penney said of Ryan. “Potentially, [it’s the new year], yeah. We are not saying that in black and white. There are windows should his rehab go really well, he could be back earlier.

“It’s highly likely he could miss those [Perpignan] games. It just depends on the next month, how his body reacts and the rehab process.”

Ryan provided valuable experience in covering at open-side flanker against Gloucester, given the injuries sustained recently by Paddy Butler and Tommy O’Donnell, his absence from the second row in turn being covered by Donncha O’Callaghan. Yet while the rash of injuries is a concern, the fact those injures, and others, arose through collisions, was a small comfort to Penney, and the remaining options in his squad meant Munster were unlikely to produce a medical joker and bring in an additional player for Heineken Cup rounds three and four.

“We are pretty comfortable with the group we have here to do that job. But we have had a lot of breakages, particularly around the middle back row area, which is a bit disconcerting. But look at Paddy Butler and Tommy O’Donnell, Donnacha’s was a high impact injury. Peter [O’Mahony] had the week off with a [head] collision. [Lock] Ian Nagle got his foot squashed so he is still in recovery. There was nothing in terms of repetitive stress, over use, which is great.”

Aside from the players on his casualty list, which also includes Simon Zebo — and now Denis Hurley who suffered medial ligament damage in his knee against Gloucester and has been ruled out for six weeks — Penney has no issues in terms of his international player availability for tomorrow night’s game at Scotstoun. Every player selected by Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt yesterday is available to play this weekend before joining camp at Carton House on Sunday. Donncha O’Callaghan was not among those required by the national team boss but his good form is a source of greatcomfort to Penney.

“He’s a terrific player, he’s critically important to this group and he’s been in great form,” Penney said. “He just loves the game, and gives it 100%. For a guy of his age and stature, to be able to take on board some of the learnings in the last 18 months is a great credit to him. We see the benefits of his uniqueness I suppose; he’s got the engine and workrate and ethic to do things well and I think there is a genuine component to his game around continuity and accuracy that’s really grown. He is critical for us.”