Not good.

Ian Keatley may be playing some of the best rugby of his career with Munster this season, but it wasn’t too long ago where it was Tyler Bleyendaal who was the man pulling the strings.

The New Zealander was pivotal in Munster’s incredible run to the Champions Cup semi-final and the PRO12 final last season, but started this campaign poorly before re-injuring his neck.

Bleyendaal has had neck problems since before he even arrived in Munster, suffering a serious injury while playing for the Crusaders, delaying his arrival by a season. It now appears that issue has flared up again, with the playmaker out since October 15, and yet to take part in any full contact.

Speaking after Munster’s win over Connacht last night, the head coach has nothing new to report on Bleyendaal’s condition, with a timeframe for his return unclear.

“With Tyler, we take it week by week. He might be available in a week’s time; it might take another six to eight weeks. We’re very sensitive to him because of the type of injury. As soon as he feels he is ready to go, and the medical team clears him, we’ll put him back in.”

Interestingly, van Graan had a similar answer when asked about Bleyendaal a couple of weeks back.

“I wouldn’t want to speculate on a time,” the South African said

“He might play next week he might play in six weeks or we might need to reassess. It sounds like it’s a pretty tricky one. Like I said, I’m not a doctor but we’ll take it day-by-day, especially with his history before. The wellbeing of the player comes first.