Joey Carbery may make seasonal debut against Leinster

Johann van Graan hopes Joey Carbery will play his first game for Munster this season when they take on Leinster at Thomond Park on Saturday.

But he stressed that Carbery would have a battle on his hands after JJ Hanrahan produced a top class display in the

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Carbery is almost ready to return from a troublesome ankle injury and van Graan said he may be back next weekend.

“It’s possible. A few things still need to go right. He did a bit of training with us on Thursday and he’ll go to the stocktake of the national team and then we won’t train again after Monday until Thursday.

“So, we’ll see him back on Thursday and then we’ll make a decision on his availability. As I said, I’m not going to put him on the field if he’s not 100 per cent right so we’ll make that call if the call is in our hands on Thursday.

“The one thing that Joey knows is he’ll have to fight his way back into the team, possibly from the bench. He can also play full-back, so there’s a few options available for us. If and when he becomes available.

JJ’s goal-kicking was 100% again tonight and as an individual and also in a leadership position, the way that he managed the game [was impressive].

“In those conditions, it’s not the kind of place where you can open up, you’ve got to keep it tight and I thought he did excellently,” said van Graan.

Meanwhile, stand-in skipper CJ Stander said he would probably think again about the decision to go for touch from the penalty against Saracens which might have yielded a losing bonus point had they opted for a kick at goal in their Champions Cup defeat a week earlier.

“I’d probably just take my time next time. In hindsight you can always do something different. I took the opportunity and it didn’t work out. That’s life, that’s it,” said Stander after the win over Connacht.

He is heading back to South Africa with his family for Christmas but said he was hugely encouraged the way so many young players stepped up to the mark to increase their lead at the top of the table.

“It was an interesting week. We had a few things going on but the squad we have with the younger guys, the academy and the team ... so we got a team that always trains and plays and the boys are there to push us on and they got a chance to play this week.

“It has been, for me, really exciting to be captain of them and train with them as a team. They gave me energy this week and they picked all of us up. They have really pushed the envelope. It has been a great week.”