Munster set to roll out big guns to face Zebre

Munster will roll out their big guns for Zebre on Friday night as coach Anthony Foley goes in search of his first home win.

Paul O'Connell, Conor Murray, Dave Kilcoyne and JJ Hanrahan will all play some part in the game, as Foley gets his first chance at playing his full-strength side. He has had an injury-hammered start to his tenure, and there still appears to be be no good news in sight for secondrow Donnacha Ryan, who remains sidelined with a foot ailment.

According to Foley, skipper Peter O’Mahony (shoulder) is also unlikely to return in time for next week’s tussle with Ospreys, while Ryan will visit his surgeon on Friday to see if he can ramp up his recovery. “We will know more after that,” said Foley. “He is doing (full training) for the past two weeks, but there is just stuff he cannot do and we need to figure out a way around that.

“Peter is doing a bit more contact there today, he has got a few more weeks to go. The urge will be to try and get him back quickly but I don’t think that is the right thing to do,” he said.

Argentinian hooker

After securing their first win of the season against Treviso at the weekend, there was more good news for Foley as Munster yesterday clinched a work permit for their new Argentinian hooker Eusebio Guinazú. The former Irish international is reluctant to throw him straight into the action against Zebre though as he still has to sort out his travel arrangements and those in possession of the jersey have done very well, he says.

"We are still waiting for him to come over. Hopefully he'll be here this week, we're just waiting for him to get flights to get over here," said Foley. "But we are happy with where Duncan (Casey) and Kevin O'Byrne are at. Obviously we picked up an injury with Ger Slattery a couple of weeks ago. Niall Scannell still isn't back, Mike Sherry and Damien (Varley) still aren't back.

“We’re minding the two boys but we’re conscious as well it would be great for him to get over here. But the two boys are going really well. We have a few more back so it makes for interesting selections in terms of fellas going forward . . . We need that competition within the squad.”