Earls and Ryan set to return to fire Munster’s Euro climax

Munster are keeping their fingers crossed that two experienced Irish Internationals, Keith Earls and Donnacha Ryan, will be available for their European Champions Cup games against Saracens and Sale Sharks next month.

The pair missed the autumn internationals along with the opening four rounds of the Champions Cup as a result of injuries but hopes are rising they are finally turning the corner.

“Donnacha is going quite well, he’s hitting all the milestones as he recovers,” said assistant coach Brian Walsh at UL yesterday after Munster’s first session since Sunday’s game in Clermont. “He’ll have to go through a period where he puts more pressure on his foot and that’s going to take some time and that’s probably further out than Keith, who is doing well at the moment. Keith’s running on grass and we’re quite hopeful that if things go according to plan, he’ll be back for the Zebre game on January 10.”

That’s the weekend before the Champions Cup game away to Saracens, with Walsh hopeful that Earls “would give us a cutting edge in the wider channels”. “That’s the hope, you see what came off the bench for Clermont and the lift that gave them so obviously the more quality in the squad with ability to play, the better.”

Injuries to the two international loose head props, David Kilcoyne and James Cronin, left Munster with a front-row crisis going into Sunday’s game in Clermont. They even considered signing up “a medical joker”, in other words a player in that position who could be registered in time to play in the Champions Cup.

Manager Niall O’Donovan confirmed that with Cronin and Kilcoyne still some distance off full fitness, “the idea remained under consideration, although issues such as work permits and eligibility were difficult hurdles”.

“James Cronin just has to wait for that AC to settle down,” said Walsh.

“They can be troublesome things but certainly we would be hopeful he will be back in the next three or four weeks or even sooner. That would give us a bit of breathing space and Killer’s (Kilcoyne) injury is not as bad as it could have been, although he’s probably in an eight-week timeframe.

“John Ryan did great in Clermont. The first three scrums were our own which was even more pressure on him and given the quality they could bring off the bench, I though he did really well.”

There is no positive news of hookers Damien Varley and Mike Sherry. Neither will be back in the near future, with Sherry requiring a third operation on his shoulder, in London last week. Gerhard Van den Heever and Johnny Holland are also on the long-term injury list with reports awaited on a scan on the knee injury sustained by Australian centre Andrew Smith in the last minute on Sunday.

Tyler Blyendall, the New Zealander whose arrival here has been delayed by a neck problem, is currently doing skills training with his home side, Crusaders, and will be coming to Ireland next month when his situation will be reviewed.

Munster have now switched their attention back to the Guinness Pro12 which they currently lead with 32 points, one ahead of Ospreys, Glasgow Warriors and Ulster. They meet the Scots at Scotstoun on Saturday at the start of a Christmas programme that sees them at home to Leinster (currently fifth with 30 points) on St Stephen’s Day and away to Connacht on New Year’s Day.

“Glasgow away is obviously a difficult game for us,” acknowledges Brian Walsh. “They have a home game to get back into the Pro12 which is a massive motivation and carrot.

“There has been a bit of history between us over the past couple of years, in terms of trying to get results. The next three matches will go a long way towards deciding where we’re going to be at the end of the year. There’s been the emotion, the intensity of the Champions Cup, we have reviewed that and have to park it until we get to Saracens.”