Injuries to key players won't change Munster approach against Connacht

The relief for Munster is that the injury hotspots are both in areas where there is strength in depth.

Munster captain Tadhg Beirne was among those to suffer an injury during his side's URC victory over Ulster. Pic; ©INPHO/Nick Elliott

Munster insist their recent return to form will not be derailed by loss of Tadhg Beirne and other key players ahead of Saturday night’s crucial URC derby at Connacht.

With two games remaining of the regular season and both a home quarter-final draw or no play-off rugby at all still on the table, fifth-placed Munster have momentum behind them after back-to-back bonus-point wins as they prepare for the penultimate round and a trip to Galway’s Dexcom Stadium. From a season in danger of imploding just a month ago, Munster have enabled themselves to look up the league table to a top-four finish and knockout rugby at Thomond Park.

Yet their 41-14 defeat of Ulster last time out has left serious gaps in their starting line-up with captain Tadhg Beirne (knee), lock Jean Kleyn (bicep), tighthead prop Oli Jager (head), centre Tom Farrell (shoulder) and wing Calvin Nash (hamstring) all ruled out this Saturday.

The good news is Ireland fly-half Jack Crowley has been cleared to return following the leg knock which forced him out of the Ulster match during the warm-up and assistant coach Mossy Lawler also struck a positive note when discussing Munster’s options for replacing the missing big hitters. Those options, he insisted, do not involve changing the team’s approach against Connacht.

“Obviously, the quality of player we're missing obviously brings its own circumstances,” Lawler said. “But from our DNA and the way we're looking to play the game, we probably won't change much in relation to what we're about.

“The big thing with Connacht is their contact skills and the physical presence they bring. So, from our physical point of view and our mentality point of view, we need to be able to match that.” 

The relief for Munster supporters is that the injury hotspots positionally are both areas where there is strength in depth.

“With Tadhg out now, a back row spot probably has come up, and a second row with JK (Kleyn),” Lawler said. “So there may need to be a little bit of a reshuffle there and a rethink about what is our best back five.

“Calvin is a quality player and a quality guy, and one that will be sorely missed… 

“It's like our back row. It's probably an area that we're actually really strong on. I mean, Andrew Smith probably didn't feature through the first six months of the season, through injury, et cetera, and now you see him starting our last two games for us and playing really well.

“You have Diarmuid Kilgallen (and) ‘Tucky’ Abrahams that weren't even involved last week, they played in the A game. And then you have Sean O'Brien, who has been never, ever let us down in relation to when he took the jersey.

“So when Calvin loses out, you have the options then to move Shane Daly back to the wing or bring Mike Haley in (at full-back). So we're pretty fruitful in that position, and thankfully, our squad is strong there.”