Anthony Foley expects Keith Earls to face Treviso

Anthony Foley is confident Keith Earls will not be in harm’s way as Munster return to European competition this Saturday, despite suffering a second concussion in 10 weeks last weekend.

Earls, 28, has been sporting a black eye underneath a cut after being caught with an elbow in the last play of Munster’s dramatic Guinness Pro12 victory at Edinburgh last Saturday . He has passed every stage of World Rugby-mandated return to play protocols since and is expected by Munster management to remain symptom free and be available for Saturday’s Champions Cup home opener at Thomond Park against Benetton Treviso.

Yet, having suffered a previous concussion during Ireland’s World Cup warm-up match against Wales at the Aviva Stadium on August 29, there is clearly a concern at the close proximity of the concussive episodes. Ireland fly-half Johnny Sexton was stood down for three months by French neurologists after suffering four in one calendar year last December but Munster head coach Foley said the clear cause of Earls’s latest concussion was less cause for concern than an unexplained incidence.