O’Leary out for weeks
Tomás O’Leary is several weeks away from making a return to competitive action with Munster.
O’Leary has not recovered from the eye injury sustained in Ireland camp in the build-up to the Six Nations game against England and will meet with an optometrist this week to determine the full extent of the injury and a likely recovery period.
But, for now, the scrum-half is definitely ruled out of Munster’s immediate plans, including Friday night’s Magners League game against Cardiff Blues, when Munster will be hoping to end a run of five defeats on Welsh soil.
O’Leary’s continued absence makes Peter Stringer favourite to start Friday with one of Duncan Williams and Conor Cusack on the bench.
Stringer will in all likelihood be partnered by Ronan O’Gara at half back for Friday night’s game as Munster resume their season after a three-week break.
They have a tough series of matches coming up with Leinster due to Thomond Park on April 2 before they make their debut in the Amlin Challenge Cup on April 8 when they play Brive in France.
Munster trained in Limerick with a full squad this morning for the first time since their Heineken Cup exit and Friday night could see a welcome return to the first team squad by Felix Jones.
Jones came through last week’s A win over Ulster, as did Peter O’Mahony and Neil Ronan.
