34 Munster players and staff flying home from South Africa; four further positive Covid cases

The province issued a statement late on Tuesday night to confirm the group had left South Africa, with 14 other members of the squad remaining in Cape Town

A view of the Munster crest at Musgrave Park. Picture: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo

A group of 34 Munster players and staff departed Cape Town on Tuesday night, leaving behind 14 others in South Africa after a fourth round of PCR testing identified four further positive Covid-19 cases.

The 14, a mix of players and staff members, will see out their respective isolation periods at a designated quarantine hotel in Cape Town but the majority of the travelling party were permitted to leave for Ireland having received negative results, ending an anxious six-day period since the emergence of the omicron variant of Covid-19 prompted the postponement of their two United Rugby Championship matches in South Africa and travel restrictions for the region prompted a scramble to leave the country.