Munster table offer for All Blacks prop Lomax as tighthead crisis bites

Munster are facing an immediate crisis in the position requiring shorter-term fixes too.

Tyrel Lomax arrives during a Hurricanes Super Rugby training session at NZCIS on January 16, 2026 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Munster Rugby have tabled an offer to bring All Blacks tighthead prop Tyrel Lomax to the province following next year’s World Cup but they are facing an immediate crisis in that position requiring much shorter-term fixes.

The Irish Examiner understands Munster will face stiff competition for Lomax, who won his 48th cap for the All Blacks as a starter in the Bledisloe Cup victory over Australia at Eden Park last September, with New Zealand Rugby keen to extend the 30-year-old’s stay in Super Rugby at the Hurricanes, where he has played since 2020. Yet the move for Lomax backs up head coach Clayton McMillan’s statement made on Tuesday about Munster’s serious search for a world-class tighthead.

This Saturday night’s URC regular season finale at home to Lions is potentially a last appearance at Thomond Park for Samoan tighthead Michael Ala’alatoa, an ever present for Munster since joining on a short-term contract from Clermont last November.

The Kiwi head coach has to plan without Ireland-capped Oli Jager, whose concussion against Ulster on April 25 was the latest in a string of head injuries, leading him to admit the 30-year-old former Crusaders prop was facing a career-defining decision on his future as a rugby player.

There are also believed to be similar fears about the future of another tighthead, Roman Salanoa, sidelined for almost three years with ongoing knee issues. The Emerging Ireland-capped Salanoa, 28, was nearing a return to action and was though he was set to play for Munster A last Friday before their match with Connacht Eagles was cancelled, the American-born Leinster academy graduate took part in Munster’s pre-game warm-up the following day in Galway ahead of the URC defeat to Connacht. 

Yet it is understood Salanoa, out of contract this summer, suffered another setback in training on Tuesday, potentially leaving serious questions about his future in the professional game.

With veteran prop John Ryan set to retire at the end of the season, former Young Munster tighthead Conor Bartley and Ronan Foxe, set to graduate from the academy on a two-year senior contract, could be the remaining senior tightheads on the books, though Ireland-capped Jack Aungier was on Wednesday confirmed as a new signing for next season after exiting Connacht.

For McMillan, also in the market for an attack and forward coaches for next season, the tighthead situation is nearing crisis point.