CONOR MURRAY IS one of four players that Munster have welcomed back to training ahead of their return to Champions Cup Rugby action against Saracens this weekend.
Diarmuid Barron (shoulder), Diarmuid Kilgallen (wrist), Jack O’Donoghue (shoulder) and Murray (elbow) have all returned to team training for Saturday’s game at Thomond Park, which kicks off at 5.30pm.
The Ulster Rugby Performance Medicine Team have issued a squad update ahead of the province’s Investec Champions Cup Round 3 fixture v Leicester Tigers this Saturday.
Peter O’Mahony’s availability will be determined later in the week with Munster revealing today he continues to improve from a ‘calf contusion’.
🗞️ SQUAD UPDATE | See the latest news from Munster camp as preparations continue for Saturday's huge #InvestecChampionsCup clash against Saracens at Thomond Park 👇
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) January 6, 2025
Diarmuid Barron, Diarmuid Kilgallen, Jack O'Donoghue & Conor Murray all return to training.#MUNvSAR #SUAF 🔴
Munster’s list of players absent for the game as they continue to rehaibilitate from injuries is – Dave Kilcoyne (thigh), Scott Buckley (calf), Alex Nankivell (hamstring), Thaakir Abrahams (shoulder), Craig Casey (knee), Jean Kleyn (thigh), Liam Coombes (chest), Seán O’Brien (leg), Jeremy Loughman (hip), Josh Wycherley (neck), Mark Donnelly (ankle), Patrick Campbell (shoulder), Cian Hurley (knee), Edwin Edogbo (Achilles), and Roman Salanoa (knee).
Elsehwere, Michael Lowry is out for Ulster’s trip to face Leicester Tigers next Saturday night in the Champions Cup, but Iain Henderson returns to be available for selection.
Lowry suffered a thigh muscle injury in the recent game against Connacht and will now miss out on the tie at Welford Road.
In better news for Ulster, Henderson is back available, along with Ethan McIlroy and Callum Reid.
Other Ulster players currently unavailable for selection due to injury are: Robert Baloucoune (calf), Stuart McCloskey (hamstring), Ben Moxham (knee), James Hume (knee), Marcus Rea (toe), Sean Reffell (ankle), Tom Stewart (hamstring), and Jacob Stockdale (hamstring).
Squad Update ⚕️
— Ulster Rugby (@UlsterRugby) January 6, 2025
The Performance Medicine Team have issued a squad update ahead of our @ChampionsCup fixture v Leicester Tigers this weekend.
More below ⬇️
Rob Herring (calf) was injured during the warm-up before the Connacht game and his availability will be monitored through training this week, while Stewart Moore (thigh) has resumed team training.
Following confirmation of Tom O’Toole’s suspension for a red card offence against Munster last month, the prop will be suspended for Ulster’s next three fixtures and Ireland’s opening Six Nations games against England and Scotland.
Although there is mention of green 6 dropping a shoulder in to gold 10 after Earls attempts to ground the ball there is no mention of gold 10 firstly grabbing him back by the neck as he attempts to ground it. Should this not have led to a penalty try and also anther yellow card?
More great analysis , exvellent reading
I thought this ref wad really solid in the first half. Our have double the yellows in the context of them giving away double the penalties was ridiculous. And that we got a first infringement yellow to Healy when they were allowed multiple infringements on the line, and us getting a deliberate knock on penalty after they had deliberately knocked on twice was crazy.
I think on a different day POM would have had two pens and a yellow card given against him – it goes to show how much people overreact (either way) to one performance – the devil is in the detail.
Great analysis.
Would be good to get a summary as well at the end.
@Andrew Hurley: summary, there are definitely times where either side could feel slightly hard done by, but overall the match was reffed quite well. And refereeing in general was much better this week and much more consistent than last week across all games.
I like the tone of this article . The assessment given by your Ref was very fair. However the variance between Southern Hemisphere ref on Yellow/Red cards differs significantly from our Northern refs. Especially when leniency is given to the home teams during current tours. The red card given to the French 15 was probably a bit harsh and did seriously effect the result while a similar tackle by an Aussie barely scraped a yellow card. Consistency is all we want please
I was confused by this:
“When the ball leaves the hooker’s hands the lineout is over.”
Law 18, sections 36 and 37 seemed to disagree:
36. The lineout ends when:
The ball or a player in possession of the ball:
leaves the lineout; or
enters the area between the touchline and the five-metre line; or
goes beyond the 15-metre line.
A ruck or maul forms and all of the feet of all of the players in the ruck or maul move beyond the mark of touch.
The ball becomes unplayable.
37. Other than by moving to the receiver position if that position is empty, no lineout player may leave the lineout until it has ended. Sanction: Penalty.
The answer, I think, is in 28.d:
Leave the lineout so as to be in a position to receive the ball, provided they remain within 10 metres of the mark of touch and they keep moving until the lineout is over.
Get a life son , it’s over and done with, move on
@Tom Gorey: jesus, don’t click the bloody article if you don’t find this interesting, thereare billions of things you won’t find interesting. I find this level dissection fascinating, so do many others.
@Conor Paddington: Dont feed the trolls Conor. Plenty of football articles to bait.