Rugby – Munster continue to build for Connacht derby

Mike Sherry (knee ligament) and Tyler Bleyendaal (quad) will following their rehab programmes this week and are expected to return to modified training early next week.

When asked about the prospect of bringing in a medical joker at hooker, Foley added that there is still time to add a player, however, should Mike Sherry return to fitness sooner than expected, Munster may not have to.

“We are light enough at the moment. Obviously we have Niall Scannell, Kevin O’Byrne, who played the B&I Cup game and got through that. We had Eddie Rossiter down from Old Belvedere who used to play with Garryowen and UL Bohemians, covering off the sub spot in the B&I Cup game. Mike Sherry hasn’t trained but has done a bit of modified running, and we just want to see where he is at by the end of the week. Whether he is two, three weeks, four weeks we don’t know. It is all by feel. Obviously we are training at the moment, to have a look around and see who is available to come in”

When asked about the rumours surrounding an approach for Australian hooker Stephen Moore, Foley was quick to deny the proposed addition to the squad.

“There isn’t anything in that. It has happened us in the past around the media as well, where names are thrown out. Everything is done behind closed doors. We are not going to talk about it in the public anyway because it is not worth our while.”

On a final ‘transfer’ related question, Foley admitted that he would not say no to a potential move for Connacht’s Robbie Henshaw, but he felt it was not the right week to be talking about such a thing.

“I would imagine there would be a lot of clubs that would love a player of his capabilities in their squad. We wouldn’t be saying no. It is probably no appropriate to talk about a player that we are probably going to face at the weekend, in the media on a Tuesday. So I will leave it there”