CIAN HEALY IS set for further tests on a neck issue after missing out on being named in Leinster’s matchday squad to face Treviso in the Guinness Pro12 tomorrow.
The loosehead prop started the province’s defeat to Ulster two weekends ago, despite having picked up a shoulder complaint during the Champions Cup semi-final loss to Toulon a week before that.
Leinster head coach Matt O’Connor says Healy’s neck problem has nothing to do with the knock he took in a collision with Bakkies Botha in that European fixture in Marseille, but is instead due to an accumulation of game time.
“With the tight turnaround from Toulon to Ulster, Cian picked up a bit of a stiff neck so he’s not playing this week,” said O’Connor this afternoon at LauraLynn Children’s Hospice, one of Leinster’s charity partners.
We’re doing a few investigations in relation to that. Potentially [he could be back for next weekend's clash with Edinburgh], it’s unknown at this stage. He’s in the hands of the medics at this stage, so we’ll have to wait and see.
“No, [it was] nothing to do with that [Botha incident],” continued O’Connor. “It was just off the back of the two very tight games and the Six Nations schedule and everything that he’s gone through over the last couple of months. So hopefully it’s not too serious.”
Naturally O’Connor will be desperate to see Healy fit in time to face Edinburgh on the last day of the regular Pro12 season schedule, as Leinster look to ensure they remain in the top six of the league and secure automatic Champions Cup qualification.
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt will be an interested follower of the medical update too, hopeful that Healy’s ‘stiff neck’ doesn’t transpire to be anything more serious.
The Ireland prop missed a large portion of this season after tearing his hamstring off the bone and subsequently undergoing surgery in September, but Healy made his comeback during the Six Nations, playing off the bench three times before starting against Scotland.
Meanwhile, O’Connor confirmed that Luke Fitzgerald’s shoulder surgery last week was a measure to correct a long-standing issue. The looming World Cup meant that an operation at this early stage was the preferable treatment.
“It’s an old injury that he’s been managing through,” said O’Connor of Fitzgerald. “The medical decision was to get it repaired as quick as possible for what’s around the corner obviously.”
Brilliant interview.
Everyone is a critic online and we all discuss player’s performances every week.
But some of the stuff Williams was subjected to over the years by ‘fans’ was just nasty and personal.
Good to hear he has some perspective on it. He had a pro rugby career with one of the biggest teams in Europe. Everyone commenting here and elsewhere would kill for that.
@Oval Digest: Your right. The criticism he received was deplorable at times. The fans who went to see Munster week in week out appreciated Duncan. It’s the armchair supporters and the keyboard warriors who think they know it all. Dave Kearney suffered a lot of the same. They guys are great professionals and do their very best. They deserve better
@Oval Digest: brilliant interview is right! Most normal folk freak out when they’ve annual performance reviews yet give it loads of the same week in week out to others that just happen to be gifted at sport!
Always found him a frustratingly solid guy to play against when he wore the Jolly Roger on his shirt. He continued in that vein and had a career albeit not in the highlight that was the dream of many!
Fair play!
I wish I was a Munster cap behind you Dunc. Enjoy whatever you do next. A great servant to Munster rugby.
@RabidHorizon: Well said!
O’Mahony’s tribute says it all. Totally underestimated player.
Loved the guy. Persevered through it all and just got on with it. Used to frustrate me a lot but towards the end of his career he was rock solid and the best 9 that regularly played in the league.
Always liked him, never deserved the grief he got which was almost always on the back of his forwards going backwards.
Very unfortunate with injuries & being compared to Stringer, O’Leary & Murray.
Great servant to Munster Rugby. Best for your next Career Duncan
@TL55: how is being compared to his peers unfortunate?
The way he was treated by a tiny fraction of Munster supporters was very unpleasant. Shows a nasty underside. Not at all a pop at Munster btw, every single sports team in the world has trolls like them, unfortunately. Plenty on these pages. Just have to mute them until they slither off. Met him a few times through work. One of the game’s nice guys. Absolute gent.
@Peter McCarthy: Yes you’re right. Some Munster fans didn’t treat him right. But we have to remember these guys try their best. But some are not as good as others. So long as they genuinely try their best that’s all you can ask. I think he he’s a very good last season with Munster.
He should go down to leinster and pass his experience onto McGrath and the young lads like he did with Murray and matthewson at Munster.
Great professional, gave his all every time.
You can’t as for any more.
Will never forget that double tackle in Sandy Park, unreal
I can empathize with him as I wasn’t great at scrum half either and got plenty of abuse from the sidelines. Difference was he stuck at it and never gave in to the haters and reached a seriously high level in rugby.
It’s a tough world when you are not blessed the the same high skill set as most of the players around you.
Unfortunately he was just a squad player and a ream of Munsters standing always needs and demands a higher calibre of player when they are one of the top teams in Europe.
I am sure he is a dead on bloke and you can feel the hurt from him in his interview but at the end of the day it’s a professional sport and you have to take the rough with the smooth
@Mark Smith: “take the rough with the smooth” – nobody deserves personal abuse for just doing their best.
I would love if each brave abuser had to wear a t-shirt with their quotes on, and walk through a crowd of ex players (with no cameras). Imagine how brave they would be then!
Dunc has the one of the most admirable traits you could look for in a person, perseverance.
He wasn’t a superstar 9, but you could never doubt the guys heart – and in his last few seasons, I think he was pretty good.