Positive thinking pays off for Bohane

Last week, Tyler Bleyendaal, Munster’s major signing from New Zealand, made his first appearance in the red jersey after dealing with 12 months of deep frustration because of a career-threatening injury. He came through in style.

At Thomond Park tonight, it will be the turn of hooker Mike Sherry and centre Cian Bohane to lay to rest the demons that inevitably challenge long-term injury victims, when they turn out against Connacht in a pre-season friendly. During the week, Bohane spoke about the fears and concerns that became part of his life for the best part of a year and how he never doubted that, sooner or later, he would come back fitter and better than ever.

“It’s tough to get around at the start,” he acknowledged. “They were saying that it is one of those things where you have to turn a negative into a positive and try focus on other things, so I tried to focus on myself and my studies and rehabing as best I could. I focused on the strength and conditioning stuff as best I could and the mental side of the game as well, so it was a tough year but a productive one as well.”