The Italian Job

It’s back to back Italian opposition for the next two rounds of the RaboDirect PRO12 with Munster taking on Zebre this Friday and Treviso the following week.

A 33 man squad and eleven backroom staff depart for Italy this Thursday, flying to Milan and then travelling on by coach to Parma where they will stay until Saturday. The group will then make their way to their training base located near Lake Garda until the Wednesday the 18th before moving on to Treviso for their round three game.

There is positive news on the injury front with Andrew Conway (dead leg), James Downey (quad) and Keith Earls (shoulder) all named in the travelling party.

We should also see the return to action of Peter O’Mahony and Simon Zebo in the next two weeks as both are named in the squad.

Travelling Squad: Forwards – Damien Varley, Mike Sherry, John Ryan, Dave Kilcoyne, James Cronin, Stephen Archer, Billy Holland, Donnacha Ryan, Donncha O’Callaghan, Dave Foley, Ian Nagle, CJ Stander, Paddy Butler, Niall Ronan, Peter O’Mahony, James Coughlan, Sean Dougall, Tommy O’Donnell, Dave O’Callaghan. Backs – Duncan Williams, Cathal Sheridan, Ian Keatley, JJ Hanrahan, James Downey, Ivan Dineen, Casey Laulala, Denis Hurley, Cian Bohane, Keith Earls, Andrew Conway, Ronan O’Mahony, Johne Murphy, Simon Zebo.

Please note both games will not be televised but RTE 2 will show extended Zebre v Munster match highlights on Saturday from 5.05pm.