Munster injuries mounting at just the wrong time for Johann van Graan

The South African is set to leave the province at the end of the season and has targeted a first trophy in 11 years as his opportunity to leave a lasting legacy

Head coach Johann van Graan during Munster rugby squad training at University of Limerick in Limerick. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Munster’s injury problems could be set to hinder their hopes of a push for silverware in the final weeks of Johann van Graan’s tenure as head coach.

The South African, his senior coach Stephen Larkham and defence coach JP Ferreira are all set to leave the province at the end of the season and have targeted a first trophy in 11 years as their opportunity to leave a lasting legacy of their respective time at Munster Rugby.

Yet yesterday’s news that No.8 and 2021 player of the year Gavin Coombes is set to miss at least the next four weeks of crucial fixtures in both the Heineken Champions Cup and the United Rugby Championship has added to other injury woes and must cast doubt on that ambition to break a silverware drought stretching back to the Magner’s League success of 2011.

Coombes limped out of last Saturday’s URC home defeat by Leinster after 25 minutes having been cleaned out of a ruck from the side.

Senior coach Stephen Larkham had on Tuesday said Munster were waiting on the results of scans on the ankle injury before outlining a recovery programme for the powerful West Cork back-rower.

Yet it emerged yesterday that Coombes has now undergone surgery on the ankle and has been ruled out until May.

That means he will miss both legs of the Champions Cup Round of 16 clash with Exeter Chiefs, the first of which will be played this evening at Sandy Park, and also the crucial URC games at Ulster, six days after the Thomond Park return leg, and then home to Cardiff in Cork’s Musgrave Park on April 29th.

That leaves a potential European quarter-final and semi-final in early May and just one regular season URC game, away to Leinster at Aviva Stadium on May 21 before the league play-offs stretching into June.

There also remains uncertainty, in public at least, over Ireland wing Andrew Conway’s return from a knee injury he sustained during the Six Nations campaign while lock/flanker Tadhg Beirne (thigh) and loosehead prop Dave Kilcoyne (neck) were also injured in the final game of the championship, the Triple Crown-clinching win at home to Scotland.

Munster will also have to deal with the shorter-term losses of captain Peter O’Mahony and fly-half Joey Carbery, who were yesterday both ruled out of today’s clash with Exeter.

O’Mahony has a hamstring complaint and Carbery a “low-grade leg/knee injury”, which the playmaker presented with following last Saturday’s home URC loss to Leinster.

Munster are optimistic Carbery will return to training ahead of the second leg of the aggregate knockout tie with Exeter back at Thomond Park seven days later while they said O’Mahony will be assessed on Monday.