Bealham and Aki ruled out of Connacht’s Treviso trip
Connacht will head to Italy for their crunch URC tie with Benetton on Saturday without Bundee Aki and Finlay Bealham.
Head coach Pete Wilkins confirmed that the Ireland duo will only be integrated into the Connacht squad later this week, with their return to action likely the following week when they head to France to play Pau in a Challenge Cup knockout match.
In addition, out-half JJ Hanrahan and flanker Conor Oliver are also set to be ruled out of the Treviso clash, with both suffering head injuries in Saturday’s horror 38-14 loss to the Lions side.
“Conor Oliver and JJ Hanrahan were both removed for those HIAs,” said Wilkins. “They were both deemed category one which leads us towards a 12-day return time, but outside of those guys we were fairly intact with no major concerns for this weekend.”
That loss sees Connacht just outside the knockout places in ninth on 33 points – albeit just two points adrift of the Stormers in fifth – and it cranks up the pressure heading to a Benetton side level on points with them but who’re set to have their Italian internationals back.
But with Mack Hansen to be out until May, Connacht will head to Treviso with none of their three Irish internationals for what could be a game that defines their season, and Wilkins said Saturday’s dismal display could now impact on the 23 he had planned to take to Italy.
“In terms of Finlay and Bundee they are still unlikely to be involved this weekend,” the coach explained.
Physical
“They will integrate back in with us towards the back end of this week and part of that is looking after them in terms of the physical recovery from what was a really full-on Six Nations for them and making sure we can get the best out of them, let alone Ireland.
“And part of that is mentally giving them a chance to come back and perform for us, so it doesn’t change for those pair in terms of how we use them, but it certainly causes us to reflect on the 23 who were out at the weekend and what we might take to Italy.”
Meanwhile, Munster have confirmed that forward duo Oli Jager and Fineen Wycherley underwent minor procedures on respective knee injuries, and as a result are facing spells out.
So too is Academy back-row Ru ad han Quinn who damaged his hand in last weekend’s win over the Ospreys.
Centre Alex Nankivell is completing the return to play protocols and his availability for Saturday night’s game at home to Cardiff will be determined later this week. Simon Zebo was unavailable for the Ospreys game due to a low-grade hip injury and is due to return to training this week.
Tadhg Beirne, Jack Crowley, Conor Murray, Calvin Nash and Peter O’Mahony have all returned to Munster training after helping Ireland to the Six Nations title.
Dave Kilcoyne (shoulder), Diarmuid Barron (foot), Roman Salanoa (knee), Jean Kleyn (knee/eye), Paddy Patterson (knee), Liam Coombes (shoulder) and Patrick Campbell (shoulder) remain on the absentee list.