Video | Sherry Back In The Fold

Mike Sherry knows more than most the perils of injury in professional rugby but with 38 minutes of action under his belt from last weekend’s win in Cork, the hooker hopes he’s firmly back on track to reaching heights of old.

Making his Irish debut against the USA in the summer of 2013 – having previously travelled with Ireland to New Zealand for the 2011 World Cup and 2012 Summer Tour – Sherry’s 2013/14 season would ultimately finish prematurely when he sustained a cruciate knee ligament injury against Dragons that November.

And further disappointment was to follow when a six month return timescale was extended to 22 months after treatment on a concurrent shoulder injury unexpectedly required no less than three surgeries.

Returning in September 2015, the hooker showed no ill effects and picked up from where he left off, playing in 24 of Munster’s 28 games that season and scoring no less than seven tries.

However, the bitter frustration of injury raised its ugly head again last season, this time a back issue, with the Limerick native requiring further surgery and missing the entirety of the competitive season.

But that would not be Sherry’s lot, and it’s testament to the 29-year-old’s perseverance, and that of the wider backroom team in Munster, that he returned last weekend looking fresh, sharp and likely to give Rassie Erasmus some welcome selection headaches in the coming months.

The graduate of Ardscoil Rís needs just four more caps for what would be his 100th Munster appearances, a deserved milestone given all he’s come through.

MunsterRugby.ie caught up exclusively with Sherry to discuss his return to action and the challenge of Cheetahs at Thomond Park this weekend – Munster’s first against South African opposition in the new Guinness PRO14.  Adult tickets from €20 and Family tickets from €40 can be purchased online here.