Peter O'Mahony and Joey Carbery closing in on return to Munster squad

ON THE MEND: Peter O'Mahony during Munster rugby squad training at the University of Limerick in Limerick. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

Peter O’Mahony and Joey Carbery could be set for returns to the Munster squad for this Saturday’s Champions Cup trip to Toulon, but the province will wait to see how they react to Tuesday’s training session at their High Performance Centre.

With Niall Scannell also set for a seasonal debut after long-term injury, head coach Graham Rowntree could be in line for a serious boost to his injury-hit squad ahead of the difficult Pool 3 challenge at Stade Felix Mayol.

Flanker O’Mahony injured a shoulder in his first game back for Munster after the World Cup on November 18, and has also stepped down as club captain after a decade in the role while fly-half Carbery, who on Monday announced he was leaving the province for a playing opportunity overseas at the end of the season, has not featured since October 29 due to a wrist injury.

Munster are waiting for the trio to present a clean bill of health ahead of Thursday’s training session in Limerick but with Rowntree set to name his team for Toulon on Friday at noon, attack coach Mike Prendergast delivered a positive report on their likelihood of being included.

“Well we trained today and genuinely the likes of Joey Carbery and Peter O’Mahony looked good today, so hopefully things going well those two stick out at the moment,” Prendergast said.

“Niall Scannell trained today as well so hopefully those three. But you could come in on Thursday and it could be a different case. But when we blew the whistle at the end of training today, the three of them looked in good nick.

"So it will be great to get the three boys back, their experience, great players. And just even them being around today, because there has been such a big block of games and so many injuries, we’ve been relying on the same players. So to get three or four players would be huge, especially given their calibre.”

Joey Carbery in training. Pic credit: Morgan Treacy, Inpho.

Munster on Monday issued another lengthy squad update as they continue to deal with a glut of injuries.

World Cup-winning lock Jean Kleyn was ruled out for the season having undergone knee surgery in addition to a slow recovery to an eye issue while back-rower Jack O’Donoghue is awaiting a decision on whether he will require knee surgery having been hurt on January 1 at Connacht in an incident which on Tuesday saw the western province’s wing Byron Ralston handed a three-match ban.

Ireland loosehead prop Dave Kilcoyne has also been ruled out for the season but tighthead prop Oli Jager could feature in the south of France if he completes his return to play protocols following a head injury at Connacht.

Munster’s issues in the second row go beyond Kleyn. Fellow South African RG Snyman is out until March, while academy lock Edwin Edogbo has undergone surgery on an Achilles tendon he injured on December 26 against Leinster, although Fineen Wycherley has returned to training following a shoulder injury.