Wootton hoping to take his chance against Zebre

It’s been a frustrating season so far for Alex Wootton. The talented winger played a huge part in Munster’s run to the Champions Cup semi final and Pro14 Final last season but has seen his game time reduced significantly due to the form of others but is hoping to get back on track and this process begins for him this weekend when Munster travel to Zebre.

“It’s a game where I obviously need game time. I have been finding it quite hard to get onto the field this season. I think I have only played two and a half games so getting onto the field and hoping to put my best foot forward. It’s the same as any game really. Whether it’s a European game or an A game. They are all the same really. I will prepare as well as I can during the week.”

Munster welcome back several players from injury ahead of the Zebre game and Wootton believes that the return of the likes of Conor Murray, Jaco Taute and Chris Farrell will have a very positive impact on the squad.

“They bring that added bit of energy,” said Wootton of the returning players. “People like Jaco who is internationally capped like Chris bring that experience as well. It’s very easy to work with those guys and they just slot straight back in.”

The Zebre game will see Munster look for only their second away victory of the season. Having earned that win last time out against the Cheetahs, Wootton is keen to add another one to the book. However, the poor away form leading up to that game wasn’t a huge focus within the squad.

“It’s one of those things that internally we will be looking at what went wrong and then putting our best foot forward. We have an away game this weekend so we will be trying to right wrongs there. I think it’s more maybe a mental shift. We played pretty tough teams early on in the season away from home. It’s something that we want to put right and I’m sure we will do.”