MUNSTER ARE TO give captain Peter O’Mahony every chance to be available for Saturday’s URC semi-final showdown with Leinster at the Aviva Stadium.
O’Mahony is struggling with an elbow injury which forced him off early in the quarter-final win away to Glasgow Warriors on Saturday evening.
And with Conor Murray, RG Snyman, Calvin Nash and Malakai Fekitoa all ruled out with head injuries picked up in that bruising 14-5 win at Scotstoun, Munster forwards coach Andi Kyriacou said they would give their skipper a full opportunity to prove his fitness before the game.
“We are just going to listen to our medics, we will keep assessing him hour to hour, day to day, and give him as much time as we can to hopefully get him through and get him playing but we have to take the lead off all the medics and ultimately what his body tell us as we roll into the weekend.
“He just did some stuff (in training) in terms of getting himself mobile, moving again and very much connected with what was going on on the field,” said Kyriacou.
Similarly, hooker Diarmuid Barron, struggling with a shoulder injury, will be given as much time as possible.
“We will just keep assessing him as we roll towards the weekend and, yeah, he was part of training today,” added Kyriacou.
“We are happy with where we are as a squad. We have a lot of depth, a lot of lads exposed to rugby throughout the season both at a URC and European level. We have had to cope with this kind of stuff before and we are confident in the lads who are available to be selected.”
The absence again of Springbok World Cup lock Snyman is a big blow to the South African himself and to Munster after his latest injury set-back.
“We are gutted for him, but it is not a frustration for us at any point. He worked incredibly hard to get himself back and you could see that on the South Africa trip. He was picking up form again, getting an accumulated flow of minutes back under his belt and we are just bitterly disappointed for him that he can’t get out there at the weekend.
“But, just like the other lads, they are hugely connected to what is going on on the field and added value even though they are not available due to the head injuries. But, yeah, huge knowledge and assistance in terms of what he brings off the field at the moment,” he added.
