Conor Murray and Shane Daly on the mend but more injury misery for Munster

Hooker Niall Scannell and scrum-half Neil Cronin are out of the Edinburgh game while there are also injuries for Keith Earls and Chris Cloete

Munster's Conor Murray is tackled by Luke McGrath of Leinster. The scrum-half is set to return to training for the province. Picture: INPHO/Billy Stickland

Conor Murray and Shane Daly are set to return to training for Munster ahead of Saturday’s visit of Edinburgh to Thomond Park but the good news for both Johann van Graan and Andy Farrell stopped there in the province’s squad update issued on Wednesday afternoon.

With preparations for Munster’s second-round Guinness PRO14 home opener already disrupted by a cancelled training session following a positive Covid-19 test for one of their senior players, head coach van Graan looks set to have his selection options limited further after the latest bulletin from his medical department.

With the confirmed case of the coronavirus ruling out that senior player and six of his team-mates self-isolating as it is determined whether they are considered close contacts, Munster could have done without the further losses of hooker Niall Scannell and scrum-half Neil Cronin while there are also injuries for Keith Earls and Chris Cloete.

Second round of PCR testing

Staff and players underwent a second round of PCR testing this week at their High Performance Centre in Limerick on Wednesday morning and will anxiously await the results ahead of a scheduled return to training on Thursday.

That would normally be the second heavy contact session of the week but the cancellation of the first on Tuesday means preparations for the visit of Conference B rivals and last season’s table-toppers Edinburgh have been curtailed.

Scannell and Cronin will definitely not be involved with the Ireland hooker facing two months on the sidelines after sustaining a neck injury in training last week that will require surgery, ruining hopes of a call-up in Farrell’s Ireland squad announcement on Thursday morning for the two remaining 2020 Six Nations fixtures rescheduled for later this month.

Veteran wing Earls may be similarly disappointed on the Test front after Munster reported he is rehabbing a back injury.

Cronin suffered an ACL injury in a knee at training on Monday and will see a specialist on Friday to discuss surgery while back-row Cloete is rehabbing a neck injury.

With Munster already without long-term absentees fly-half Joey Carbery (ankle) and lock RG Snyman (knee), there is still no comeback date for Ireland prop Dave Kilcoyne (ankle) or fellow loosehead Liam O’Connor (calf) but van Graan will at least have been cheered by the expected return to training on Thursday of full-back Daly who suffered a groin injury in the A game against Connacht 10 days ago and scrum-half Murray, who appears to have overcome the thigh injury he picked up in Munster’s final match of the 19-20 campaign, the PRO14 semi-final loss to Leinster on September 4.