Penney lines up Murphy or Murray in case of No 10 crisis

Munster would be forced to call on Johne Murphy or Conor Murray to act as No 10 back-up should Ian Keatley suffer any form of injury before the Heineken Cup semi-final clash with Toulon.

That is unless JJ Hanrahan makes a ‘miraculous recovery’ from a groin injury. Hanrahan faces a daunting task to return to fitness, with Penney declaring: “It would be a miracle, but you never know.”

Back in action last week was young Munster fly-half Johnny Holland but he is ineligible for the Heineken Cup, so Penney put forward the names of Murphy and Murray as possible replacements if Keatley picks up an injury.

Holland could be included in the match-day squad for this week’s Pro12 clash with Connacht in Galway, but Keatley will also be thrust into the limelight, most likely from the start.

Penney confirmed Keatley will be asked to play: “We’ve got to play Ian yeah, there’s no problem there. It’s footy isn’t it, it’s an important game for us this weekend.”

Munster’s injury concerns don’t end there, with BJ Botha and Donnacha Ryan both still on the treatment table, Botha with an ankle problem and Ryan with a troublesome foot injury.

However, Penney is confident Botha, who missed training through illness yesterday, will be good to go against Connacht. Ryan, he said, was marginal. “He’s making steady progress but we won’t know until probably just before kick off.”

Neither Simon Zebo nor Keith Earls took part in training but Penney pointed out: “They’ve had a couple of big weeks so we are making sure we monitor their workload.”

Clearly, Penney is praying that Keatley stands up to the physical battering he’s likely to have to endure these coming weeks but yesterday the coach paid tribute to him for his durability and for the big contribution he has made since stepping up to take over the mantle from the now retired Ronan O’Gara.

“I think the easy answer is that no one’s calling for ROG to come back. I think that’s the best compliment any player can get when they step into the shoes of a legend.

“Within six or eight months of that legend moving on the guy that’s taken his place is being regarded as a fine player in his own right and no one’s wanting the legend back.

“They have both done — JJ as well — a really magnificent job under difficult circumstances. Ian’s just growing all the time and is still not at his full potential yet, he’s got a lot left in him. It’s a credit to the guy.”

Although there was much soul-searching following Saturday’s defeat to Glasgow, Penney was in more positive mood yesterday.

“The outcome was disappointing and parts of the game were really disappointing but parts were on the verge, I felt, of being really good.

“In the first half we were a few metres away from scoring three tries and on another day they would be taken and the scoreline would have been very different at half-time.

“But we were playing catch up and those things didn’t happen. But, all in all, we knew we weren’t quite right. We can’t dwell on it, we move on and take our learnings out of the game.

“There is a bit of a buzz around today, a group that is excited to get into it this week and we know what we need to do over the next five or six weeks. We’ve got a window of opportunity and we are still masters of our own destiny.”