The Champions Cup Round of 16 takes place this weekend and Munster's crisis at tighthead prop has gone from bad to worse as John Ryan has been suspended for the tie with Northampton.
The stalwart has picked up a three week ban after his illegal clearout on hooker Liam Belcher in Munster's 20-15 URC victory over Cardiff Rugby last Saturday. Ryan was given a yellow card on the pitch by official Andrea Piardi but the URC disciplinary panel has upgraded the incident to a red card offence.
The ban was reduced from six weeks to three due to Ryan's clean record and apology for the incident at the hearing. It means that John Ryan is now out for Munster's trip to the Northampton Saints in the Champions Cup Round of 16 this Sunday. He will also miss the quarter-final the week after if Munster progress and the first match on Munster's trip to South Africa in the URC against the Bulls.
Red prop probably should’ve had red. Tips and drives into ground. Landing turns entirely on player pivoting. 14 yellow potentially for tip and letting go. #MUNvCAR #BKTURC pic.twitter.com/JcxfJqgFDK
— Andrew (@aj_d___) March 31, 2024
Munster Have Massive Prop Crisis After John Ryan Suspension
Munster have had to deal with a massive amount of injuries this season, with not a game going by where Munster could play their first choice 15. However, ahead of the Northampton clash Munster potentially have an even bigger crisis at tighthead prop. First choice Oli Jager and Roman Salanoa are both out with knee injuries and with John Ryan now suspended, it looks like Stephen Archer is the only recognised tighthead in the senior squad for this weekend.
Now Archer is no slouch, he's made 200 appearances for Munster but at 36-years old he's not the ideal man to be relying on to play 80 minutes in a European knockout tie. There is no senior option left behind Archer after Keynan Knox departed the province with immediate effect in February. Academy prop Darragh McSweeney looks to be travelling with the squad and could be the choice on the bench. It would be the Shannon RFC's man debut in a Munster jersey if he was to come on.
There's a chance that Graham Rowntree may decide to move one of the loosehead props over to tighthead but they are without David Kilcoyne who is suffering from a shoulder injury. It potentially means one of Jeremy Loughman, Josh Wycherly or Academy prop Mark Donnelly could be moved over to tighthead for the match.
It's been a very challenging week for Munster ahead of arguably their most important match of the season and this situation is just another headache they have to deal with.
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