Van Graan talks Carbery and Snyman injury timelines ahead of Edinburgh encounter

Munster head coach Johann Van Graan spoke to the media today ahead of Munster’s clash with Edinburgh on Saturday evening. Munster have had two weeks off since their narrow 18-16 win over Benetton on the 30th of January and this morning issued an injury update in advance of the second half of the season.

Among the good news on Munsterrugby.ie was an update stating that Joey Carbery is ‘increasing his training load further again this week’ and Van Graan today confirmed that second row RG Snyman is also making promising progress.

“He’s doing really well. As soon as Joey can convince the medical team he is ready to play he will play, but there is no timeline currently. RG was in South Africa for a few weeks. He’s come back and done his isolation and has been back in the HPC for the last few weeks. With a big injury like he’s had it’s a long process. Some time in the coming months he will hopefully be available for selection. With ACLS, some go quicker and some go slower. No real update on him except he’s doing really well and it’s great to have him back at the HPC.”

Returning to Munster training this week are Irish squad members Andrew Conway, Chris Farrell, Shane Daly and Craig Casey. With no match for Ireland this weekend, the four backs are expected to feature against Richard Cockerill’s Edinburgh at Murrayfield.

“It’s always great to welcome national players and that’s exactly what they are – they are test calibre players. It’s great to have Andrew, Chris, Shane and Craig back. If selected I’m sure they will have a big part to play on Saturday. It’s brilliant that with the vibe we have in the squad they fit in seamlessly as they had done in the Autumn, so yeah it’s great to have some of our players back.”

Limerick scrumhalf Casey started on the bench for Ireland against France on Sunday and Van Graan is confident the experience of being around the international camp will stand to the 21 year-old.

“He was on the bench at the weekend and was straight back in on Monday morning preparing for Munster again. He knows that this is an important block for us and all his focus is currently with Munster and once he’s back with the national team his focus will go back there. It’s great to have Craig back and he’s his old self, a ball of energy and I’m really looking forward to seeing him play.”