A growing injury list threatens to halt Munster’s progress Munsterand’s Edwin Edogbo leaves Tuesday’s URC clash with Leinster on a medical trolley.
Edwin Edogbo leaves Tuesday’s URC clash with Leinster on a medical trolley. Cian Tracey Today at 03:30 The disappointed look on Graham Rowntree’s face said it all. It’s the same expression we’ve seen repeatedly over the past few weeks. For the second time in a month, Munster pushed their nearest rivals to the limit and although they conceded a point on both occasions, Rowntree’s men were left to reign it in. The Munster boss is not a man to make excuses, but if he was, there wouldn’t be a shortage of them, especially given the way his side were stretched to the limit. Peter O’Mahony, Jean Kleyn, RG Snyman, Fineen Wycherley, Niall Scannell, Roman Salanoa, Cian Hurley, Jack Daly, Mike Haley, Joey Carbery and Liam Coombes added to an already long injury list with Edwin on St Stephen’s night. Edogbo, Dave Kilcoyne, Diarmuid Barron and Alex Nankivell were sent off in the 9-3 defeat to Leinster. Being out of 15 players would be a huge blow to any team, but especially one that already lacks depth at key positions. After last season’s URC win, there were high hopes that Munster would go on this year and while there is still time for their side to do so, there is no doubt that the high number of injuries has significantly hampered their first half of the season. . With the game still in the balance, Leinster could call on a Springbok and three Irish internationals, including arguably the best hurler in the world in Dan Sheehan, while Munster had a reserve that was without a club until recently. their humble bench was revealed. One of the biggest positives from the loss was how Oli Jager recovered from conceding an early penalty to Andrew Porter. From there, the two props engaged in a cracking, old-school melee contest. “It was a ding-dong fight,” Rowntree said. “I was very pleased with Oli and the way he settled in. He will be a special player for this club. Huge man, good composure, very good coach. Very good at micro-chatting with little boys and the men around him. “It was ding-dong and they were able to bring in [Dan] Sheehan, [Jason] Jenkins, [Ryan] Baird, you know, we didn’t have those resources and we dug into it, especially late in the game. “Jeremy [Loughman] gets a yellow card, Oli comes back for free, we can deliver possession, which meant we didn’t have to move bodies elsewhere, which would have created space. We dug in and got a bonus in the loss for it.” – We fought for every centimeter and every moment of the game. I’m proud of the boys.” With all the injuries, Munster’s decision-making under pressure remains in the spotlight, especially how they failed to get chances when they went down 6-3 in the closing stages. “I trust them,” Rowntree said. “I help them when they ask me about the feeling, the pace and the position. We went to the last one and failed, so they took that decision there and if it works and we do it, it’s great, it’s a great decision. do, right? That’s the feeling of the game.”
