Johann van Graan, the Munster coach, has revealed that Jean Kleyn is a doubt for Sunday’s Champions Cup clash against the Ospreys.
The Irish international lock picked up a neck injury in Munster’s defeat to Racing 92 last Sunday. However, JJ Hanrahan, who was a slight doubt with a hamstring injury for that game in Paris, came through the match unscathed and is fit to start on Sunday.
“JJ’s hamstring is fine,” Van Graan said at today’s press conference. “He was pretty banged up after Sunday’s game, as they ran quite hard in his channel and he took a bit of contact, so we’ll look after him during the week.
“We are going to send Jean Kleyn for a scan on his neck as he took a bang there. We will know more later in the week on him. He has not (been ruled for Sunday’s match at this stage).
“Fineen Wycherley is still going through (the HIA process) following the knock against Ulster so we hope he comes through as we are thin on ball-carriers and on second rows. That would be very important for us. As well as this, Rhys Marshall and James Cronin might be available for us.”
Despite the likelihood of an early exit from the competition, van Graan has refused to give up on the possibility of another Munster miracle panning out. For this to happen, though, not only would Munster need to win with a bonus point attached, but they are also dependent on a series of results elsewhere going their way.
“We are still alive in this competition,” van Graan said, “so yes, it is out of our hands but we have incredible support, especially when you think of the amount of Munster people who went to the Racing game; when you think of all the people we saw at the airport, they were all brilliant to us.
“Any time we play at home, it’s a special thing. Prior to the Leinster game on December 28, we were unbeaten here for two years; so we are really looking forward to playing our last European game of the season.
“There are positives. We did some fantastic things on Sunday; we were 9-0 up after 17 minutes, put them under huge pressure but a lack of discipline allowed them to get back into it.”
