Major player in line for return to Munster Rugby squad ahead of URC semi-final

MUNSTER RUGBY will be aiming to bring back one of their start players in Alex Nankivell into the starting XV this Saturday evening as the province take on Glasgow Warriors in the semi-final of the URC at Thomond Park at 6pm.

The New Zealand centre has been electric for the the side and has quickly turned into one of Munster's best signings to date. Nankivell picked up an ankle injury in the Round 17 victory over Edinburgh, but is set to be making a return to the team this weekend.

When asked if coaching staff were happy about about Alex Nankivell's progress at the Munster Press conference this week head coach Graham Rowntree jokingly said "Oh yes."

"We had another good session on Tuesday and as of now we don't have any real injury headaches. This time of year you've done a good chunk of training and sometimes it's just as important to remember that and stick to the game plan. We will get another session in Thursday and that'll be us for the week, we know the challenge that is facing us Saturday and we need everyone to be fresh and ready."

This is uncharted territory for Munster in the URC as they claimed the title the hard way last year, travelling on multiple occasions to South Africa and ultimately winning the trophy there. On this occasion the province is going into the knock-out games as firm favourites while also enjoying home advantage, a rare occurrence for the side. 

Speaking about the advantage of playing at Thomond Park and continuing their preparations as they would week-in week-out Rowntree went on to say: "We don't mind a bit of jeopardy and travel but it is very nice being at home in the glorious Limerick weather and training at the same venue. 

"It's about what you don't do this week and we have a lot in the bank physically. It might be strange to say but the lads are very calm around the place so that is always a great sign leading into a knock-out game."

Glasgow Warriors will prove to be a huge challenge for Munster this Saturday evening with the Scottish outfit winning 36-26 in March of 2023 in their last visit to Thomond Park.

Munster's head coach rolled his eyes as he cast his mind back to the difficult night against Glasgow last year and spoke about the poor performance his side gave, which in turn spurred the province on to win the URC outright.

"28-0 at half-time wasn't it? I'll never forget that dressing room. That game really gave us a punch on the nose and certainly defensively we have changed key elements of that and how we trained which has stood to us since then.

"Glasgow still have that maul-try weapon in their armoury and the tries they have scored in the URC from their set-piece will be testament to that. They have the full package haven't they, they can play dangerous on the edge of the field and kick a lot less than most teams. They are coming here with quite a gnarly attitude and it's similar to us on the road last year so we have spoke about this and we are awaiting that attitude on Saturday."

Munster's vital URC clash on Saturday evening will be shown live on TG4 from 5:30pm this Saturday evening.