MUNSTER HEAD COACH Clayton McMillan said they have used the Six Nations window well to get ready for the business end of the season which kicks off this weekend in South Africa, with the first of at least four away matches in a row.

Munster captain Tadhg Beirne is being rested for the two games in South Africa with Craig Casey, Jack Crowley and Jeremy Loughman flying out later this week and could be in contention when they play the Bulls on Saturday week in Pretoria.

First up are the Sharks in Durban this Saturday with Tom Farrell and Michael Milne returning from international duty to start, with Edwin Edogbo on the bench for a side which will be skippered for the first time by JJ Hanrahan.

Edogbo’s younger brother Seán will start his third game in the backrow as Munster return to Kings Park where they were controversially knocked out on penalties in the quarter-finals of the URC last season.

McMillan, who has made six changes to the side which defeated Zebre 21-7 three weeks ago, said they know they face a formidable task against the Sharks, who are six points away from a knockout spot heading into the final third of the season.

“They’ve won five out of the last six games at home. A formidable team who welcome back some experienced internationals.

We obviously need to deal with the conditions, which are, I have to say, significantly different to what we get in Ireland at the moment,” said McMillan.

“So, look, there’s lots of challenges, but that’s what the nature of what this competition throws at you. You’ve got to deal with travel, you’ve got to deal with different styles of play, different strengths in different teams, and obviously the conditions. We’re well aware of what we’re going to be walking into.

“I like to think that we’ve prepared accordingly over the last two months. During the Six Nations period, gives every team an opportunity to look forward and anticipate the sort of conditions and teams that you’re going to play and what’s required to hopefully have some momentum coming into the back end of the season.”

Munster go into this round of games in sixth place on 39 points, six off leaders Glasgow Warriors and two behind Leinster in fourth, with eight wins so far.

Munster will head to Exeter the week after coming back from South Africa for a Challenge Cup knockout match and if they win then face a trip to play either Cariff or Benetton in the quarter-finals. In any event they will travel to Parma to play Benetton in the URC on April 18.

For now McMillan is concentrating on the Sharks in Durban on Saturday (3pm Irish time) and is looking for a bounce from his returning internationals on this trip.

“They always come back with good energy,” added McMillan. “It was tough on the couple, as you would expect that they were part of the celebrations after the Triple Crown victory on the weekend. The communication between Munster and those individuals in the Irish management has been very clear.

“We had an expectation that a good handful of those players were going to front for us on Monday and fly out and may need to play this week. They’ve sort of bounced into the week. There’s been no sign of fatigue or the fact that they feel like they’re missing out on a big break.

“We’ll look after them as we do all of our players in terms of load. Most of them, I think, are just going to try to get out on the rugby field. Clearly, we’ve got Craig Casey, Jack Crowley and Jeremy Loughman who are joining us later in the week and they’ll give us that same energy, I’m sure.”

Munster: M Haley; C Nash, T Farrell, A Nankivell, S Daly; JJ Hanrahan (c), E Coughlan; M Milne, D Barron, M Ala’alatoa; J Kleyn, T Ahern; S Edogbo, J Hodnett, G Coombes. Replacements: L Barron, J Wycherley, J Ryan, E Edogbo, F Wycherley, P Patterson, D Kelly, B Gleeson.