MUNSTER BOSS CLAYTON McMillan said the province won’t take any risks with Craig Casey’s return to action from injury, given how big a season he has ahead with his province and country.

Scrum-half Casey suffered a hamstring injury in training last week and after initial doubt about the severity of the issue, Munster have today clarified that the 26-year-old will be sidelined for another one to three weeks.

That will have come as a relief to Ireland boss Andy Farrell, with his side’s opening autumn Test against the All Blacks in Chicago now just three-and-a-half weeks away.

Casey, who captained Ireland’s summer tour of Georgia and Portugal, is next in line behind first-choice scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park.

Munster and their supporters would dearly love to have key man Casey available for next weekend’s visit to Croke Park to take on Leinster, but McMillan said the province won’t take any risks with the halfback’s hamstring.

“I would certainly love him to play next week, but we won’t take any risks,” said McMillan today.

“He still has strong ambitions of featuring for Ireland in the game against the All Blacks and if playing him next week puts him at risk, we won’t do that.

“It’s a long season and given his importance to this team and, I would think, Irish rugby, we’ll do what’s best for the player.

“He’s not ruled out at this stage, but it’s something that we will take a conservative approach with.”

Casey is absent for tomorrow’s URC clash with Edinburgh in Cork, while out-half Jack Crowley has been rested for this game.

McMillan confirmed that Crowley has been put on ice due to Irish rugby’s player management protocols ahead of the trip to Dublin to face Leinster.

Jack Crowley will return for the Leinster game. Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO

“100%, he would have been in the matchday 23 but he had to miss one game in the first four weeks and this was the designated game,” said the Munster boss.

McMillan has made 10 changes to his starting XV following last weekend’s win over Cardiff at Thomond Park.

Second row Tom Ahern is sidelined after suffering a head injury during training this week, Niall Scannell was ruled out with the laceration he suffered to his hand against Cardiff, while Shane Daly sustained a head injury last weekend.

The Munster head coach wasn’t entirely pleased with his side’s performance last time out, but said the number of changes was more about giving players opportunities to impress.

“We’ve had a lot of people who’ve put a lot of work in over the pre-season and in the first sort of month of the URC, we wanted to get as many people an opportunity to stake their claim, and this week was an opportunity to do that,” said McMillan.

“Week one and two was an opportunity for us to build some cohesion and have some consistency of selection.

“You see a fair bit of that in the forward pack. And in the backs, we have a number of outside backs that have been out with injury, so we’re keen to get them back in and create that internal competition.”

McMillan is also delighted to have 22-year-old second row Edwin Edogbo back on the Munster bench.

Edogbo hasn’t played for Munster since December 2023, when he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon for the second time in his career, so McMillan is pleased to see him up and running.

“He’s a big human, first and foremost,” said the Munster boss.

Edwin Edogbo is ready for his return. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

“Everyone around here speaks really highly of his ability. He’s been in full training for three or four weeks now. He understands how he can use his size to his advantage, particularly around his bally-carrying and close-contact work. That’s going to be important.

“We’ve got some big, rangy men but we haven’t got a hell of a lot of big men, stature-wise. Jean Kleyn is probably the other obvious one in our team and we can’t roll him out every week and expect him to be at his best.

“He gives us something different and hopefully he can inject that off the bench on Friday night.”

Tighthead prop Roman Salanoa, who hasn’t played for Munster since the 2023 URC final due to long-term knee issues, is also now back in full training with the province.

While Salanoa won’t feature against Edinburgh, he is due to line out for Nenagh Ormond in the AIL. McMillan has yet to see much of Irish club rugby but said that the AIL is important for the province.

“I think it’s a great avenue. I haven’t been to watch a game myself so I can’t speak in any great depth, but I’ll get out there and watch that game and see how Roman goes.

“There’s a huge amount of interest around him getting back out on the rugby field. He’s had some real challenges and I think we’re all extremely excited to see him pull on a jersey and get back out and see what he can produce.

“All I can say for club rugby is that we carry a large squad and everybody walks through the front door on a Monday morning with aspirations of wanting to play and, inevitably, I end up letting a lot of them down because we can only name 23.

“It’s a long season and you need to have an element of rotation and when guys do get their opportunity to play for Munster, we want to set them up for success.

“And I think getting out and contributing to their clubs, to the grassroots level of the game, and readying themselves for the opportunity that will present themselves with the senior squad here is a great way to go about it.”