Munster provide an update on the extent of the injury suffered by potential Lions pick Tadhg Beirne

Lions fans in Ireland have exhaled a huge sigh of relief after Munster confirmed that the weekend injury suffered by in-form forward Tadhg Beirne during their first-half of the Heineken Champions Cup round of 16 defeat in Limerick wasn't as serious as initially feared. 

Beirne signed off on an impressive recent Guinness Six Nations campaign for Ireland with numerous pundits and fans selecting him in their various XV selections for the first Lions Test next July against the Springboks.

However, Beirne was taken off before the interval in Munster's high-scoring loss to Toulouse last Saturday and that early exit sparked fears that it could impact on his Lions selection hopes if a lengthy recovery period was needed. 

Munster, though, have now issued an update on the injury prognosis surrounding Beirne and it is now expected he will be back in action in the Rainbow Cup by the time Warren Gatland announces his Lions squad on May 6.

The Tuesday evening medical bulletin from the Irish province read: "The Munster squad are on a down week following Saturday’s Champions Cup clash against Toulouse at Thomond Park. On the injury front, Tadhg Beirne was removed with a rib injury in the first half on Saturday. He will be managed by the medical department and is expected to return to full training in the next few weeks.

"Peter O’Mahony (leg) is progressing well and will return to training next week. Fineen Wycherley (neck) made a return to action on Saturday without any aggravation of his injury. Dan Goggin (hand) also made a successful return to action in a training game.

"Continuing to rehab: Paddy Patterson (ankle), Neil Cronin (knee), RG Snyman (knee). Meanwhile, academy players Thomas Ahern and Scott Buckley have both suffered knee injuries during a training game and will be further assessed this week."