Munster's Hodnett to miss next two URC clashes
MISSING LINK: Munster’s John Hodnett. Pic: Steve Haag Sports/Deon van der Merwe
Munster could be without John Hodnett until the last game of the URC regular season but Denis Leamy has insisted the in-form back-rower was not a long-term injury concern.
Hodnett has not played since the April 20 win at Loftus Versfeld, when Munster bolstered their hopes of a home quarter-final draw by becoming the first European side to win away to the Bulls at altitude in Pretoria.
The West Cork flanker, winning try scorer in last season’s Grand Final victory over the Stormers in Cape Town last May, missed the second of Munster’s two URC games on their recent South African tour as the champions closed out a second bonus-point victory on the Highveld, against the Lions in Johannesburg and defence coach Leamy on Tuesday said Hodnett could miss two of the final three league games before the end of season play-offs next month.
Munster, currently third in the URC standings, a point behind second-placed Leinster, welcome derby rivals Connacht to Thomond Park this Saturday evening before travelling to face Edinburgh six days later before rounding out the league campaign back in Limerick against Ulster on June 1.
“My understanding is John is out this weekend and Edinburgh maybe a little bit early but the hope is that he would be back around the Edinburgh game,” Leamy said.
“We just have to see exactly how he responds and rehabs but it’s not long-term.”
The Munster assistant praised Hodnett’s stand-in Alex Kendellen, who made 24 tackles in the thin air of Ellis Park as his side defeated the Lions 33-13.
“Alex has been terrific and he’s a player that was touted for a long time as a schoolboy. It’s great to see him bringing his talents.
"John and Alex are slightly different in the way play the game but both have tremendous qualities and Alex’s ability, when he starts games, his defensive sets, his repeat efforts around the breakdown, around the carry, he’s pretty exceptional around.
"That workload that he can carry is really strong.”
Munster have taken 29 out of a possible 30 match points from their last six URC matches and Leamy believes taking the maximum 10 points from their two games in South Africa could be crucial for momentum heading into the end-of-season run-in to the play-offs.
“Yeah, hugely important and you take it with both hands. It puts us in a very strong position of what we can do next. You want to win every game and then you take the boring, ‘take every game as it comes’ but ultimately this weekend we’ve got to take in isolation.
“It’s a big derby game, we’ve won three, they’ve won three of the last six games so that probably tells you a lot, there’s nothing between the teams on any given day.
"I think Connacht fully believe any time they play us they can beat us and we would have the same mindset. So there’s nothing really dividing us.
“It’s a great challenge. Both teams have big reasons why they need to win and there’s a lot on the line.”