Saturday can’t come quick enough for Munster fans.
The news dominating the southern province this week has consisted of Donnacha Ryan’s likely departure to Racing 92, speculation surrounding Rassie Erasmus’ future and of course whether Conor Murray will be fit enough to start on Saturday against Toulouse.
In this case, a game of knockout European rugby will be the perfect antidote for what has been a distressing week.
Many people expect Munster to beat Toulouse at Thomond Park and secure their first Champions Cup semi-final in three seasons.
Just like with Ireland though, Murray has an almost paramount influence on this Munster team.
When he doesn’t play, the men in red lose one of their main players who dictates the course of the game.
Not to mention everything else which he is incredibly good at – passing, sniping at the base of a ruck, tackling and box-kicking.
So there was general fear at the beginning of the week when Erasmus told the media that Murray did not take any contact in training on Monday.
This could be a huge loss https://t.co/oA1oYNXpND
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 28, 2017
The South-African Director of Rugby did reveal that they will give Murray every opportunity to prove his fitness – breaking away from their usual policy – such is the importance of the Limerick man to this team.
There has not been any more updates since then but the 27-year-old has just tweeted his excitement for the match on Saturday.
It could definitely be interpreted that the St. Munchins alumnus is confident that he will be fit for the pivotal clash.
https://twitter.com/ConorMurray_9/status/847105025528811521
We won’t know until the team is announced later in the week how likely it will be that he will feature but Munster’s week may have just got a little bit better.