Munster welcome two players back from Ireland for trip to Italy

MUNSTER have confirmed that two players have been released back from the Ireland squad ahead of their Guinness PRO14 fixture away to Benetton Rugby this Saturday, 2pm Irish time.

Prop John Ryan and utility back Shane Daly will be available for selection for the Round 5 trip to Stadio Monigo after spending the past month with the Ireland squad, who have completed their Six Nations campaign and are now preparing for the Autumn nations Cup.

Munster announced the signing of Ireland U20 scrum-half Ben Murphy on a seven-week deal earlier this week.

A member of the Leinster sub-Academy, Murphy joined the squad at the High Performance Centre at UL on Tuesday and provides injury cover with Neil Cronin ruled out due to a long-term knee injury.

With Conor Murray on international duty, Craig Casey and Nick McCarthy are the only two scrum-halves available for selection.

Speaking about the arrival of Murphy, Munster defence coach JP Ferreira explained: "We have been looking around and working closely with the IRFU. A guy like Ethan Coughlan from Ennis, a local boy, we were looking at him but he's injured at the moment.

"So with the IRFU's knowledge, we've brought in Ben Murphy from the Irish U20s and he'll be with us for a number of weeks before we make an assessment on that front again.

"We are short on nines currently just having Craig and Nick, so it's a boost for us in that area."