Munster Rugby not ruling out Gerhard van den Hever suspension appeal

Munster have still not ruled out an appeal against the two-week suspension handed to wing Gerhard van den Heever, meaning there is an outside chance the in-form South African could be available for one if not two rounds of the Champions Cup this month.

Munster open their Pool 4 campaign at Thomond Park against Treviso tomorrow (5:15pm) with van den Heever in the frame for a wing berth following a run of good form in the early weeks of the Guinness Pro12. Yet he was potentially ruled out on Wednesday of that and next Sunday’s trip to Stade Francais after receiving a ban for tackling an Edinburgh player in the air during last Saturday’s win.

Munster only received written notice of the PRO12 disciplinary committee’s decision yesterday evening, the point at which the player has 48 hours to consider whether to exercise his right of appeal.

With the province hopeful fellow back Keith Earls will complete the return to play protocols following a concussion in the same game, Munster could hand a debut to Argentina’s back three player Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino to fill the breach left by Van den Heever.

Head coach Anthony Foley was forced to reveal his hand a little yesterday when the Munster A team was named to begin its British & Irish Cup campaign at London Scottish tonight. Mick O’Driscoll’s side included places for two recently arrived new signings, Uruguayan World Cup prop Mario Sagario and former Brumbies back rower Sean Doyle.

“Hopefully we can get him some game time this weekend,” Foley said of Doyle, “whether with us or with the A side, he’ll definitely get some part and Lucas would be the same.

Foley may mix his back row combination up for Treviso by switching stand-in captain CJ Stander from No. 8 to blindside flanker.

The only injury concern affecting selection for tomorrow’s game was out-half Tyler Bleyendaal, who is nursing a strained quad having been forced to pull out of the Scarlets PRO12 game on October 23 during the warm-up. His training was being managed this week and management may decide not to risk him with a crucial away trip to Stade Francais looming.

If that is the case, Rory Scannell could be the preferred bench cover for Ian Keatley. The 21-year-old did not feature in the A squad to play in Richmond this evening and he can play at both out-half and inside centre, where he started for Munster against Treviso in their 18-13 round one Pro12 game in Cork on September 6.

Foley admitted this week to “more than a few” selection headaches having added a “layer of depth” to his squad by using 38 players across seven Pro12 games this season.

“You go through our teams, we’re making seven or eight changes in games. I wouldn’t make changes if I didn’t feel we can win the games but what it’s shown up is that we’ve a lot of quality there and a lot of the fellas are seeing opportunities and they want to take opportunities and get into the European Cup team.

“That leaves you in a place where you have to sit down and think long and hard about the games coming ahead and what’s the best XV for this weekend.”