Munster may opt for boat and bus to beat 'Beast from the East'

MUNSTER may be forced to travel by boat and bus to Edinburgh for Friday night’s Guinness Pro14 clash should the forecasted snowstorms hit Ireland later this week.

Temperatures are set to plummet within the next 24 hours ahead of one of the coldest weeks in Ireland for three decades.

Met Éireann is poised to issue a Status Red warning over the Arctic weather front nicknamed the ‘Beast from the East’.

In the UK, heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures are causing travel disruption, with police forces reporting treacherous driving conditions and blocked routes.

Munster head coach Johann van Graan says the team is monitoring the situation as a result the bitterly cold weather front from Siberia. The squad is making alternative arrangements should their flight plans be disrupted.

Munster are due to face Edinburgh at Murrayfield on Friday night, 7.35pm. 

Johann van Graan said: "At our meeting this morning in terms of a player group, we said whatever happens to the weather and we will take it in our stride.

“Even if we need to take a bus and a ferry to Edinburgh we will enjoy that as well. We will do our planning as best as we can, whatever happens happens.

"You know I love my planning, but in Ireland everything seems to be different. My first week in there was a hurricane a few months back.

“People said then 'don't worry, it doesn't get worse than that.' Then you get weeks like this.

"Niall (O'Donovan), our manager, have already looked at all possible scenarios. We are investigating it. Nobody knows exactly how it is going to pan out.”