Liam O’Briain and I have spoken at length on the Hawkeye Sidekick Rugby Union podcast with regards to the Munster Rugby squad injury list.
The player workload, the training intensity, the training ground surface, the strength and conditioning need to be all reviewed by the province going into the international break.
Last week saw twenty-six Munster Rugby players unavailable for selection due to injury or general unavailability due to looming international fixtures.
We are looking at similar unavailable numbers this week as Munster Rugby face a ‘must win’ over high flying Ulster Rugby at Thomond Park on Saturday night.
Every playing unit of the squad has felt the impact of this ever-increasing injury list this season. The second-row unit now is under pressure given the news that Jean Kleyn (rib) and Tom Ahern (shoulder) will be facing extended time on the sideline.
They join RG Snyman (knee), Fineen Wycherley (shoulder), and Paddy Kelly (head) as unavailable. When you consider that Tadgh Beirne is away on international duty, the options are starting to diminish to the extent that academy players and more established back row options may need to fill second row squad depth positions in the short-term.
This has prompted Munster Rugby yet again to go into the loan market and secure a three-month loan signing of Kiran McDonald Seran who comes from administration stricken Wasps but has had game time with Glasgow Warriors in past seasons.
McDonald Seran has had a stop start career due to injury. The player is a massive unit at 6 ft 8 in with physicality to boot at 116 kg (18st 4 lbs). He can play as a lock or flanker.
McDonald Seran’s playing career as an amateur was mostly spent around Glasgow with spells at Glasgow Academicals, Glasgow Hawks. A move to Hull then took place for 2016-17 season before a move to Glasgow Warriors professionally until 2022 where he played with Currie during this tenure.
A summer move to Wasps unfolded this year but given the financial administration was like his Wasps team colleagues and staff made redundant two weeks ago. A three-month loan deal for now until second row squad depth recovers from injury. The player is a massive ball carrier with superb work rate.
We wish Kiran well on his loan deal with the club. Munster Rugby have had some quality loan signings who joined the club for a three month deal only to extend for a few seasons given their impact. Jaco Taute and Chris Cloete are perfect case studies for McDonald Seran to aspire to here.