Penney hails medics as key players set to return

In terms of resolving outstanding issues, head coach Rob Penney is receiving plenty of encouragement from his medics ahead of Munster’s Heineken Cup clash in Gloucester, even if he appears more than happy to put discussion of his own future on hold.

Five days on from descriptions of Munster’s dressing room at Ravenhill resembling a military field hospital, Penney looks like having first-choice hooker Damien Varley back in harness for the must-win Pool 6 trip to Kingsholm on Saturday. Varley limped out of the Ulster game just before half-time with a foot injury to join lock Donncha O’Callaghan and scrum-half Cathal Sheridan on the casualty list with the Munster boss initially ruling each of them out of this weekend’s European showdown.

With game-day looming, only Sheridan is still sidelined, his expected four-to-six-week absence with medial knee ligament damage offset by the expected return of first-choice number nine Conor Murray.