Already off to a flying start in the Heineken Cup, Munster have been boosted by the return of Keith Earls to the squad for this weekend’s clash with Llanelli Scarlets.
Earls suffered medial ligament damage to his knee against Leinster in the so-called ‘Fever in the Aviva 2’ early last month and his absence looked like it could be a devastating blow in what was a pretty tricky Heineken Cup pool for the two-time champions.
Instead, Munster have barely noticed his absence as they have got off to the perfect start with three wins from three so far, but Earls’ return is timely after Doug Howlett was ruled out for the season with an Achilles problem.
Earls has been named in the Munster squad for this weekend’s encounter, although given the length of his absence, Munster coach Tony McGahan may continue to treat him with kid gloves and ease him back into the fray.
“We’ve to wait and see, he’s been out of action for three to four weeks, so we’ll have to see how he gets on in training for the rest of the week,” said McGahan.
With three wins in the bag so far, all by a margin of three points or less, Munster are sitting pretty on top of Pool One and another win at Thomond Park this weekend would mean that qualification is as good as in the bag with two games to go.
Munster take on Scarlets on Sunday at 12.45pm at Thomond Park.
Munster squad:
Forwards: Marcus Horan, Wian du Preez, Stephen Archer, John Hayes, BJ Botha, Denis Fogarty, Damien Varley, Donncha O’Callaghan, Donnacha Ryan, Paul O’Connell, Mick O’Driscoll, Ian Nagle, Billy Holland, Denis Leamy, Niall Ronan, James Coughlan, Tommy O’Donnell.
Backs: Tomas O’Leary, Conor Murray, Ian Keatley, Ronan O’Gara, Johne Murphy, Denis Hurley, Scott Deasy, Simon Zebo, Will Chambers, Lifeimi Mafi, Danny Barnes, Keith Earls.
