Keith Earls could make Munster Rugby return against Leinster

MUNSTER Rugby senior coach Stephen Larkham says winger Keith Earls could feature in the province's crucial United Rugby Championship fixture with Leinster on Saturday week.

Limerick man Earls, who has been sidelined with a thigh injury, is targeting a return to training next week ahead of the Saturday, April 2 clash with Leinster at Thomond Park, 7pm.

Thirty four-year-old Earls will miss Munster's URC fixture with Benetton Rugby at Musgrave Park this Friday, 7.35pm.

Stephen Larkham said: "Earlsy is tracking really well, back into a bit of training this week, not full training, but he’s stepped up his load from last week. I wouldn’t want to put a timeline on it, but judging by how he’s training at the moment, next week’s game is not out of the question, we were shooting for the week after.

"When you get to the back end of these rehab stages you just have to make sure everything is tick-tock before you move onto the playing field.

"Like I said, he’s trained well this week, but we’ll see how he goes at the back end of this week and next week."

Larkham ruled out a possible return to action before the end of the season for Munster's World Cup winning second row RG Snyman.

Snyman suffered a second cruciate ligament injury last October.

“Highly doubtful, it’d be a miracle. He’s an amazing player," Larkham said.

Craig Casey, Gavin Coombes and Jeremy Loughman have returned to the High Performance Centre at UL this week having been part of the Ireland squad for the 6 Nations.