Ireland trio back in Munster fold ahead of Bulls showdown

The southern province will hope to bounce back from Saturday's humbling defeat to the Sharks.

BOUNCE BACK: Munster head coach Clayton McMillan during the heavy defeat to the Hollywoodbets Sharks at Kings Park Stadium in Durban. Pic: Shaun Roy/Sportsfile

Munster have welcomed back Ireland internationals Jack Crowley, Craig Casey and Jeremy Loughman to training as they look to bounce back from a 45-0 hammering by the Sharks when they face the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld this Saturday.

Clayton McMillan’s 31-player squad have relocated from Durban to Cape Town following their URC setback at King’s Park last Saturday. The travelling party will train at sea level until Friday when they fly up to Pretoria ahead of the clash at altitude with the eighth-placed Bulls in the second and final week of their South African tour.

Fly-half Crowley, scrum-half Casey and loosehead prop Loughman were unavailable to face the Sharks, though fellow internationals Michael Milne Milne and Tom Farrell started and Edwin Edogbo came off the bench against the Durban franchise as Munster maintained sixth place but saw their margin for error in securing a top-eight finish diminish as chasing teams closed the gap to them with five matches of the regular season remaining.

The trio took part in training today in Cape Town as a fully fit squad reported for duty on Monday with no more than bumps and bruises to report following their defeat, though Munster captain Tadhg Beirne has not travelled to South Africa following the Six Nations campaign with Ireland.

Head coach McMillan will reveal his Munster team to face the Bulls on Thursday afternoon.

Munster Squad in South Africa 

Backs: Craig Casey, Ethan Coughlan, Paddy Patterson, Jack Crowley, JJ Hanrahan, Tom Farrell, Dan Kelly, Alex Nankivell, Seán O’Brien, Shane Daly, Mike Haley, Calvin Nash, Ben O’Connor.

Forwards: Michael Ala’alatoa, Jeremy Loughman, Michael Milne, John Ryan, Kieran Ryan, Josh Wycherley, Diarmuid Barron, Lee Barron, Niall Scannell, Tom Ahern, Edwin Edogbo, Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley, Gavin Coombes, Seán Edogbo, Brian Gleeson, John Hodnett, Alex Kendellen.