Reds half big hopes
MUNSTER coach Johann van Graan is expecting half-backs Joey Carbery and Conor Murray to guide the Reds into the semi-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup for the 14th time on Saturday. The South African is confident scrum-half Murray (inset) will make a return to top form and is also hopeful that No.10 Carbery can shake off the hamstring injury which has sidelined him since the Six Nations win over Scotland.
“I believe he’ll be ready to go on Saturday,” said van Graan at their Limerick base yesterday when asked about Carbery’s fitness. “He has to get through training today and tomorrow.
“But I’m not going to wait until the last minute to make this decision because he came from a hamstring injury and we’re not going to take any risks.
“He believes he’s ready, I believe he’s going to be ready and he wants to play. We did a lot of planning last week off-field with him and if he comes through training I believe he’ll be ready to start on Saturday.
“He’s been one of our best players the whole season, not only his goal-kicking but his presence and his decisionmaking and I think he has been on form throughout the whole year.
“He’s one of those players who seems to thrive on the big stage and Saturday certainly is a big stage.”
Van Graan again reiterated his belief that Murray will rediscover his top form and is confident that his No.9 is poised for a big finish to the season.
He added: “I met up with Conor a week ago and went through his game. He’ll be the first to say he wants to improve every single week. He took a mental break and was really refreshed when he walked in here this morning. He’s really looking forward to the challenge.
“I don’t read all the criticism and all the positives. All I know is that Conor is a world class player. He wants to be the best in the business and he’ll work every single day as much as he can to be at his best on Saturday afternoon.
“We’ve got three days of training, which he’ll take a central part in, and I’m going to back him to have a brilliant performance.”
Van Graan reported no new injury concerns after their hard-earned 31-12 win over Zebre on Saturday evening.