'His ceiling is incredibly high’: Munster’s Edwin Edogbo set for return after 22 months out

Roman Salanoa, who also faced a long wait on the sidelines through injury, is also back in the mix for Munster.

SQUAD UPDATE: The return of Edwin Edogbo to full training following a lengthy injury absence is a big boost. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady

It has been 22 months since Munster supporters last saw Edwin Edogbo in full flight but the excitement remains that the powerful second row can make a real impact in both red and green.

The 22-year-old from Cobh, along with fellow long-term absentee tighthead prop Roman Salanoa, played a part in the pre-game warm-up at Thomond Park last Saturday, Salanoa’s last game having been in the 2023 URC Grand final victory at the Stormers in Cape Town. Edogbo’s most recent senior outing had been the following St Stephen’s night against Leinster when the lock was struck down by the second Achilles injury of his fledgling career. He and Salanoa returned to full training this week and though their availability will be determined closer to Thursday’s team announcement for the following night’s Virgin Media Park clash with Edinburgh, senior coach Mike Prendergast has been delighted to see Edogbo on the practice field once more.

“Having a guy like Edwin Edogbo, who hasn't been around for a while, seeing him run around the park is really exciting for Munster and for Irish rugby, because I do believe his ceiling is incredibly high.

“For me it’s his close-in power, both sides of the ball. I distinctly remember being under the sticks, I think it was at Ulster in Thomond Park. He has an unbelievable ability for a big man to poach as well, so his close-in work, his feel for the game, he's a very, very smart player, he uses every bit that he has.

“And just watching him train, his movement and as I said, he's got a very, very good feel for the game, for a lad that's probably missed a lot of rugby.

“So it's exciting having him back, absolutely. He gives you that physical size as well, which never goes short on a rugby pitch.” 

Short term, Prendergast sees Edogbo playing a powerful foil as back-up to Jean Kleyn, offering a heavyweight one-two punch for Munster, though the youngster will not be rushed back after such a serious injury.

“I'd often talk about the tractor second row, and your giraffe second row, so you have your tractor second row, which is your bigger man, like your Jean Kleyn and like your Edwin, and then you've a giraffe second row, which is the likes of Tom and Evan and these lads.

“So having that balance and having two or three of them going after both positions in the second row is a great thing to have. And especially as the season goes along, it's a squad thing absolutely, but the game becomes a 23-man game as well, and there are days that if you can have an Edwin on the bench or a Jean Kleyn on the bench, at least it gives you those options.” 

The Munster management has also welcomed back a quintet of short-term absentees this week ahead of Edinburgh’s URC round three visit to Cork, though like both Edogbo and Salanoa, the availability of props Mikey Milne and John Ryan, centre Tom Farrell, wing Andrew Smith and full-back Mike Haley will be determined later in the week.

“Just having numbers on their feet breeds competition,” Prendergast said. “So that's probably something that's caught us over the last couple of years, the injury list.

“Last week it didn't look too healthy, but they were all kind of short enough. And you can see it this week, there's seven of them coming through. So hopefully seven of them coming through, we'll know more during the week.

“But it builds competitiveness around the place and it allows you at times to... we were probably hamstrung with that a small bit where we wanted to make a couple of changes maybe in the last couple of years that we were forced in, that we couldn't, purely because of injuries.

“So that helps the whole squad. And what it does is it helps your squad the whole way through the season, from now to the end, because we're only going into game three and it's a long season. But overall, great to have players back. Absolutely, it is.” 

Last February’s 34-28 victory by Edinburgh at Virgin Media Park threatened to derail Munster’s URC play-off bid last season and has served as a prime example behind new head coach Clayton McMillan’s objective to instil consistency of performance across a season rather than blowing hot and cold from week to week. Prendergast is mindful that after a below-par yet winning outing against Cardiff at Thomond Park last Saturday, when the Welshman won the majority of the physical collisions in contact, Munster can ill afford a repeat against Edinburgh.

“When you strip back the performance on the weekend, you could probably go straight to your contact whereas maybe previously, and it's early days, there might have been different aspects of our game, but definitely from a defensive and an attack point of view, we came up short in our contacts.

“We looked at it in good detail on how we need to be better, and better equipped, for this weekend. Because all the Scottish teams, when you look at them, both Glasgow and Edinburgh, they pride themselves within that tackle area on both sides of the ball.

“And from an attack point of view, they have an ability of really slowing our ball down. I suppose getting on top there, and that's where we came up short on the weekend. So we need to be better at it.”