CENTRE ALEX NANKIVELL and experienced outhalf JJ Hanrahan have not been ruled out of Munster’s trip to take on URC leaders Glasgow Warriors on Friday night.

Senior coach Mike Prendergast said they would wait and see the results of scans before making a call on the two players.

Hanrahan had been selected to start against the Dragons last Friday but pulled up in the warm-up with a hamstring issue, while Nankivell had to come off with a foot injury early in the second half of the 22-20 win over the Newport side.

“He’s going to get a scan, so is JJ Hanrahan. We’re waiting back to hear how they get on. But hopefully they’ll be OK. But it’s probably still early in the week and it may be another day or so before we know where we are at with the two boys,” Prendergast said.

His side ended a four-match losing run in Europe and the league with a hard-fought victory over a resurgent Dragons side, even if it was a far from convincing performance.

“Yeah, to get the win, I suppose, was pleasing,” Prendergast said. “We needed a win. I think over the last few weeks we’ve come short in a couple of games. Probably played better rugby and came up short. But that’s the nature of it sometimes. And then credit to the Dragons, they did bring it to us.

“We were our own worst enemies at times, allowing them into the game, especially in that first half, albeit they had a strong wind.

“We showed good character. Let’s be honest, there were nervy enough times there, around 50 minutes. But to come back from the score like we did, with the conditions, I think we showed good character and good learning for some of the younger lads who I think stepped up and played well as well.

“we have seven out of ten wins, which is good, again. There are aspects of those performances that we haven’t been happy with. But as I said, happy to get the win. Aspects we need to get better at and we’re coming up against a very, very good side on Friday night to really sharpen it up.”

Glasgow Warriors lead the URC table just past the halfway mark in the campaign and Prendergast knows that even though they will be without more Scottish internationals than Munster will be without Irish players, they can expect a huge challenge at Scotstoun.

“They’ve eight out of ten wins in the URC,” Prendergast said. “I think they’ve won their last eight games on the bounce, bonus points on Toulouse, for example. They will lose international players, but the one thing I think Franco Smith has done, he’s built a good squad and he’s built a real DNA.

“That’s the big thing for me. I think the biggest part of their DNA, they obviously play good ball, but in terms of their contacts, it’s something I’ve always alluded to since I’ve come back to coach against them, their contact skills, their contact area, is something that they really pride themselves on on both sides of the ball. So in terms of our physicality, we need to go up another notch this weekend to get some rewards out of it.”

Springbok Jean Kleyn, who came off in the second half and whose replacement Gavin Coombes got in for two tries to turn the game against the Dragons, is following the HIA return to play protocols.

Meanwhile, Prendergast said it was tough luck on another Munster lock Tom Ahern to have to withdraw from the Irish squad with a neck injury.

“Very unfortunate for him, obviously, to be named in the Irish squad and to have to pull out. But in terms of any update, there hasn’t been, in terms of a return to play, there hasn’t been anything specific as of yet. So hopefully it won’t be too long,” added Prendergast.