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De Allende boost for Munster ahead of Pro14 return

By Ciarán Kennedy
(Photo by Getty Images)

Munster have reported some good news on the injury front ahead of the return of the Guinness Pro14 next month. The Irish province had enjoyed a down week following their return to squad training on June 22, with players and staff reporting back to their high performance centre in Limerick today for another four-week training period ahead of the August return to Pro14 action.

As part of their return to training, senior players and high performance staff have undergone a second round of PCR testing today.

And the province have confirmed that headline signing Damian de Allende is expected to return to training in the coming weeks as he steps up his rehab from a calf problem.

The World Cup winner signed for Munster alongside his fellow Springbok RG Snyman in January, with the pair both arriving in Ireland in recent weeks. If fit, de Allende will be eligible to line out for his new team next month.

Munster play Leinster in Dublin's Aviva Stadium on Saturday, August 22, before taking on Connacht at the same venue the following weekend.

And there was further good news for Munster with the confirmation that Tadhg Beirne (ankle), Keith Earls (calf) and John Ryan (shoulder) have all been able to return to training this week.

Like de Allende, Gavin Coombes (illness) and Dave Kilcoyne (calf) both remain on the treatment table but are expected to return to training in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile Calvin Nash will undergo a scan on a wrist injury today, while Dan Goggin has undergone surgery on his ankle and has already started his rehabilitation.

Jean Kleyn, Jeremy Loughman and Fineen Wycherley have sustained thigh injuries and are undergoing rehabilitation with the medical department.

The province did not provide any update on Mike Haley (calf) or Joey Carbery (wrist/ankle), who has been dogged by injuries over the past 12 months.

The out-half has only played twice for Munster since his former side Leinster knocked them out of the Pro14 in the semi-final stages in May of last year.

Munster head coach Johann van Graan previously outlined that he hopes to have Carbery available for selection some time in September.