Setback for Munster as Stephen Archer ruled out of PRO14 semi-final with Leinster

Munster’s preparations for their Guinness PRO14 semi-final at Champions Cup winners Leinster have been hit by the loss of tighthead prop Stephen Archer following surgery on a pectoral muscle.

Head coach Johann van Graan was on Monday set to welcome Archer’s positional rivals John Ryan (back) and Brian Scott (ribs) back to training but the loss of the province’s current first-choice tighthead is a serious setback to Munster’s hopes of upsetting their interprovincial rivals.