“When it rains, it pours” – Bizarre injury among Munster’s list of casualties
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Bizarre.
Munster are navigating a lengthy and increasingly unusual injury list at the beginning of the new season, ranging from Jack Crowley’s rare vascular issue to Tom Ahern cutting his finger while slicing an apple.
Clayton McMillan was without what he estimated to be “10/12 starters” for Saturday’s 26-20 defeat to Glasgow Warriors at Thomond Park, while two more players failed to finish the URC opener.
Crowley remains the most significant absentee, with the Ireland out-half sidelined by a rare vascular issue in his lower leg and not expected to return until at least Christmas.
Fellow fly-half Tom Wood is facing an even longer spell out after undergoing shoulder surgery, with his comeback not expected until the new year.
Ahern, meanwhile, was among those missing against Glasgow for rather more unusual reasons.
“He got stitches in his finger. He cut his finger open with a knife, slicing an apple or some … dumb thing like that,” McMillan explained.
“So, yeah, look, it got a little bit infected. At a push, we could have played him today, but we rolled the dice, and others did well today. He’ll be back in the mix next week.
“Yeah, when it rains, it pours.”
Munster’s casualty list grew during the game itself.
Matchday captain Diarmuid Barron failed his HIA in the first half, while full-back Mike Haley was also forced off after suffering a blow to his leg.
“Diarmuid failed his HIA 1, I think. He’s all good. He could be a possibility, but he needs to go through the process,” McMillan said.
“Mike Haley, I haven’t caught up with him, but it looked like he had a pretty decent bang or something to his leg, so he might be 50/50.”
There should at least be some reinforcements available when the Bulls arrive at Thomond Park on Saturday.
Ahern is expected back in contention, as is Shane Daly, while summer signing Jack Aungier could make his competitive Munster debut after recovering from a back problem.
The former Connacht tighthead picked up the issue in training ahead of Munster’s final pre-season fixture.
“He’ll be back next week. He’ll be a contender next week,” McMillan said.
McMillan also expects one or two of Munster’s Ireland internationals who saw limited action during the summer to become available.
Edwin Edogbo isn’t quite ready to join them, however, with the second-row still approximately two weeks away from a return.
“I think over the next two or three weeks we’ll get a lot back, and that’ll be great, because we’re having to rely through the pre-season and the early part of the season on the same blokes, so I don’t want them running on fumes,” McMillan added.
“But it’s great for them to get an opportunity, and we know that we’ve got some good cattle.
“I don’t know how many, maybe 10/12 starters that didn’t take any part in the game today, and when they come back in, that’ll strengthen us.”
Munster will hope the returning bodies can provide an immediate lift after opening their campaign with defeat.
The Bulls arrive in Limerick this weekend having ended Munster’s season with a 45-14 victory in last year’s URC quarter-final in Pretoria.
McMillan also revealed that he knows the province will have to do a lot of work to win back the Munster fans after a turbulent few months. You can read more about that here.
