The Latest On Damian de Allende As Munster Finish off Connacht Rout With 14 Players
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All good.
Munster fans can breathe a sigh of relief with head coach Johann van Graan confirming centre Damian de Allende is not injured despite the fact that he was taken off in the final 10 minutes against Connacht this evening, leaving Munster with just 14 players on the pitch.
The southern province currently have a long list of injuries ahead of their second meeting with Leinster in as many weeks on Friday but van Graan has confirmed there is “nothing wrong” with the Springbok.
The game was well and truly over by the time de Allende was taken off with Munster running out 49-12 winners against 13-man Connacht who had two players red-carded in the first half.
Conor Murray, CJ Stander, Tadhg Beirne, JJ Hanrahan, and captain Peter O’Mahony were all also taken off early as Munster get set to do battle in the PRO14 semi-finals with Leinster with just a 5-day turnaround.
“The game was won and we just tried to protect him,” van Graan said of de Allende.
“He hasn’t played a lot of rugby. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with him, we just said we’d finish the game off with 14.”
On the 5-day turnaround, van Graan said Munster will “literally” only be able to have one training session before the game as a result.
“It’s the shortest turnaround that we’ve had in years,” van Graan said after the game
“Those are the cards we’ve been dealt, so we’ll get back to Limerick and Cork tonight, literally have one training session and we’re back here [in Dublin] on Thursday.
“It’s all about recovery, but that’s the challenge of sport and that’s what we’ve got to do. We’ll be back here on Friday evening against the champions in their back yard.”