Nobody’s crying off this week. Munster’s visit to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday night is expected to see Peter O’Mahony’s return from the hamstring strain that ruled him out of the Italy game and appeared to reduce his now stratospheric standards in Paris.
The Munster captain took last week off to recuperate and enjoyed a well-deserved trip to New York where he saw the Knicks 92-86 defeat of the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden. That event coincided with the legendary Phil Jackson's – coach of the Bulls and Lakers dynasties – return as club president.
Driving force
In the absence of their driving force, Munster still managed to overcome Treviso 14-3 on Saturday night. And they were also without Paul O'Connell – a late withdrawal due to a "shoulder niggle" – Conor Murray, Tommy O'Donnell, James Coughlan and BJ Botha. All, though, are expected to start against Leinster.
“There was a lot of fellows trying to put their hand in there for selection,” said Billy Holland. “In terrible conditions Felix Jones, under the high ball, was rock solid.”
Munster did, however, lose tighthead prop John Ryan to concussion.
Leinster are not without their own problems, following Friday’s bonus-point win over Zebre, but they are more selection than injury concerns as the management indicated Jack McGrath (collarbone) and Seán Cronin (neck) should return.
Richardt Strauss (knee) and Tadhg Furlong (ankle) will need to be further assessed but the eight Leinster starters for Ireland in Paris, along with the likes of Eoin Reddan, Rhys Ruddock and Jordi Murphy, will all be expecting to feature against Munster.
Away journey
Coach Matt O'Connor must also make a significant decision about his back-three make-up and who wears the number 23 jersey against Munster and the away journey to Toulon for Sunday week's Heineken Cup quarter-final.
Dave Kearney returns after a magnificent Six Nations at left wing, where Luke Fitzgerald crossed for two tries on Friday before being withdrawn as a precaution. It seems that one from Zane Kirchner, Fitzgerald, Dave Kearney and Fergus McFadden will have to be excluded from the Munster match day squad altogether.
Ulster coach Mark Anscombe has a similar problem with his backrow options after Stephen Ferris came through 40 minutes in the 9-3 win in Edinburgh. Ruan Pienaar (AC joint) will probably not feature in Cardiff this Saturday but is expected to be ready when Saracens visit a renovated Ravenhill seven days later.
The return of the Springbok halfback allows Anscombe to have a six forwards, two backs split on his bench that accommodates three backrow options, with Iain Henderson also covering lock behind Johann Muller and a fit again Dan Tuohy.
All told, just like Ireland, the provinces look well stocked for upcoming domestic and European challenges.
