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Munster crisis over for now, but fears remain over Hanrahan

Munster out-half JJ Hanrahan. (Photo by Henry Browne/Getty Images)

Johann van Graan has been able to field a strong Munster side to face Racing 92 in Paris on Sunday, much stronger than some expected at the beginning of the week. 

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When the damaging news emerged for both Ireland and the province that Joey Carbery will miss the Six Nations with a wrist injury, there was widespread panic among many Munster’s supporters.

Fellow fly-half Tyler Bleyendaal has been ruled out for the last while with a neck injury, while a question mark hung over JJ Hanrahan after he missed last weekend’s loss at Ulster with a hamstring injury.

That left centre Rory Scannell and 20-year-old Ben Healy as the two remaining options to start at the Parisian giants in a pivotal Champions Cup clash. 

Fortunately, Hanrahan has now been passed fit and is part of an XV that Racing should find tough to beat, even though Munster are stretched somewhat on a bench that could herald European debuts for backs Craig Casey and centre Shane Daly. 

(Continue reading below…)

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With no substitute out-half in the squad, Hanrahan may be required to play a full 80 minutes – and there are obviously questions over whether he will have the fitness to do so. 

However, Scannell could move in from inside centre if an injury did occur to his team-mate and with two centres on the bench, there is cover if such an emergency occurred. 

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With both Munster and Saracens battling for a quarter-final berth behind leaders Racing, few points can afford to be dropped in the final two rounds. 

Saracens travel to strugglers Ospreys on Saturday and should they win, even more pressure will be heaped on Munster in the French capital. 

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AM 44 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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