Anthony Foley says provinces are under no extra pressure in Wales

A curious twist to the fixtures schedule for the Pro12 sees all four Irish provinces head to Wales this weekend but Munster coach Anthony Foley does not believe there is any extra pressure on them to lay down a marker.

All four Irish provinces will be in action on Welsh soil this weekend but Foley said there was no burden on them to make a statement, a week before Joe Schmidt's men head to Cardiff for a Six Nations showdown with Wales.

Connacht travel to Cardiff on Friday night, Munster meet Ospreys in Swansea on Saturday and later that afternoon Leinster are in Llanelli, with Ulster taking on Dragons in Newport on Sunday. However, Foley said they will have enough on their plates without getting bogged down in what might unfold at the Millennium Stadium.

Hard to beat

“We will look after ourselves and everybody will look after themselves. I don’t think it is a collective thing across the four provinces.

“Ireland, obviously, are doing quite well at the moment but it is just important we take care of our own job. It is a tough place for all four provinces to be, the Welsh regions are hard to beat this year,” said Foley.

He was due to find out on Tuesday which Ireland players might be available to him for the trip to the Liberty Stadium, and Foley said he was very pleased with the way his Munster players performed in the win over England on Sunday.

“A lot of them stood up well and got through it and I think a lot of them profiled high in the game so it’s good to see.”

Donnacha Ryan

Munster went top of the Pro12 with that 22-10 bonus-point win over Glasgow and Foley could be boosted by the long-awaited return of lock Donnacha Ryan, who has been out with a troublesome toe injury for 12 months.

“We will see what way Donnacha is by the end of the this week. Whether it is too early for him I don’t know but he trained fully today so it is always a good sign.

“It is about managing him, see what way he wakes up tomorrow. Is there any more pain in it, can we push it on a bit further – it is all about managing him and making sure that we don’t do anything to undo all the good work that has been done so far,” added Foley.

Munster also have doubts about Dave O’Callaghan, who missed out last week with a dead leg, while Jack O’Donoghue, who has added to his growing reputation by scoring in each of the last three games, suffered a knock but should be fine.