Briggs eager to get back on duty

A firm handshake and a smile makes Niamh Briggs instantly likeable, but for the past few months smiles have been scarce for the 2013 Grand Slam winner.

A knee injury a week before the IRB World Cup Sevens in Russia last summer was crushing, while a wrist fracture in her opening game for Munster in December saw her miss the bulk of the interprovincial series and with it the majority of the club season with UL Bohs. They have been key reasons why, tonight, she is on the bench.

“It’s been a difficult few months, but if you told me it meant I’d won a Grand Slam, then I’d do it all over again,” admitted the woman from Abbeyside in Dungarvan, who has confided in Munster’s Keith Earls on the injury front.