Murray out of autumn Tests, says Van Graan
MUNSTER coach Johann van Graan doesn’t expect Conor Murray to feature in this week’s Ireland squad annoucement as he continues his recovery from a neck injury.
Murray hasn’t played since the third Test of Ireland’s summer tour of Australia — four months ago today — and the Van Graan doesn’t envisage him being fit for Ireland’s November Tests against Italy, Argentina, New Zealand and USA.
‘It would (be a surprise if Murray was in the Ireland squad), because he is still a bit off being ready, but Joe’s [Schmidt) and David’s [Nucifora] communication has been fantastic to me since the day that I arrived,’ he said.
‘We are all very aligned and I believe so are all the provinces. That’s fantastic about Irish rugby. Everybody just wants the best for Conor so whenever the medical staff clears him we’ll all be on the same page.
‘Look, I don’t want to speculate on what’s the best for him. We get led by our medical team. Obviously, Conor wants to play, he is the most important person, but he also knows his body and he is very important for Munster and very important for Ireland, so we’ll keep doing the best that we can for him.’
Van Graan was given a positive update regarding Tommy O’Donnell’s injury with X-rays confirming the flanker did not break his leg, however he has sustained some serious damage to his ankle.
Rhys Marshall is awaiting the results of a scan on his hamstring injury, while Niall Scannell (ankle) is expected to return to some running this week. However, Keith Earls could be back to face Glasgow this Saturday in the Pro14 at Thomond Park after his hamstring complaint.
‘There is a chance (Earls will be available). He has got to start running today. The medical staff said to me that we’ll have a look at how that goes. We can put him into team training and I think we’ll have to see how it looks on Thursday,’ Van Graan added.
‘He is raring to go, he has only played two games this whole season.
‘He’s one of our best players and one of Ireland’s best players. We’d love to have him on the field.
‘It’s great news (for O’Donnell). We take that as a big positive. Medical staff looked at what happened after the game and the pain and how they took him off.
‘Anything I get now (that is) positive, is great. If you just look at our loose forwards at this stage: Tommy out, Jack O’Donoghue out, Dave O’Callaghan out, Conor Oliver out, Arno [Botha] possibly out, and then Pete [O’Mahony], CJ [Stander] and Tadhg [Beirne] possibly going to Ireland leaves us really thin at this stage.”
The Ireland squad will be named tomorrow and at least ten Munster players are expected to be selected in Schmidt’s squad.
With so many injuries to cope with, it leaves Munster desperately short of experience for Saturday’s clash with Warriors and their trip to South Africa a week later, but Van Graan sees it as an opportunity to test the depth within his squad.
‘I definitely won’t have everyone available (this weekend),’ he said.
‘There’s been communication from the Irish camp and I do want to stress the communication has been fantastic from Joe and that’s something I respect and that’s why the national team are ranked number two in the world, because of the Irish system.
‘There will definitely be player welfare [directives] this weekend.’
There’s also the possibility Tyler Bleyendaal will make his first appearance since last February’s victory over Glasgow.
‘We’ll do what we believe is the best for Tyler, gradually bring him back,’ insisted the Munster head coach.
‘He’s training well, putting a bit of lead into his legs, putting him through his paces. And we’ve got to fly to South Africa next Monday.
‘So yes, Tyler might get some game time as we look to freshen it up over the next two weeks.’
Van Graan also denied that Munster had approached Peter Stringer to come out of retirement during their recent scrumhalf injury crisis, however he did confirm that an approach had been made to the former Ireland player last year.
‘Last season just when I got here we were quite a few nines down at a stage as well and I had a quick chat to him [Stringer], but not this season,’ he added.