Clayton McMillan has backed JJ Hanrahan to steer the ship for Munster this weekend, but the head coach remains confident Jack Crowley will be fit to return for the province's highly-anticipated meeting with Gloucester at SuperValu Pairc Uí Chaoimh next week.
Crowley has been ruled out of tomorrow’s Investec Champions Cup Pool 2 opener away to Premiership champions Bath due to a leg injury which he picked up in last Saturday’s defeat to the Stormers.
The province gave an estimation of between one and two weeks for his recovery when they confirmed their matchday squad earlier today, leading to fears he would be a major doubt for their second pool game in Cork next week.
However, the head coach has since allayed those fears.
"I think it's a fairly strong chance that he'll be available," McMillan said on Friday evening.
"He improved pretty rapidly over the week, but he just wasn't quite ready early enough to be a serious consideration for tomorrow's game.
"If he continues to progress at the same rate, he'll be on the team sheet next week."
In Crowley’s absence, Hanrahan (below) has been given the keys to the Munster backline, with the 33-year-old making his 46th Champions Cup appearance, 35 of which have come for Munster.
And McMillan says the Kerryman’s experience at this level was enough to get him the nod over Tony Butler.
"He [Hanrahan] has been great actually. I think he was probably, to be fair, a little bit nervous around the way that Tony Butler played when we played the Argentinian XV.
"He [Butler] really took his opportunity and that was rewarded with selection on the bench last week. Unfortunately, the way that the game unfolded, we didn't get a chance to put him out on the field.
"And then in Jack's absence, we've really just plumped for the experience of JJ. He's accustomed to playing some pretty decent fixtures and this is one of those ones.
"So, he gets to nod this week. Having been under pressure to hold a spot in the squad, I think we've seen him produce some of his best weeks at training.
"So, if we can transfer that into a performance, it'll help put us in good stead."
Just like Ulster and Leinster, Munster have a new signing primed to make a debut off the bench, with Michael Ala’alatoa (below) set for his first appearance.
The province struggled badly in the scrum during the second half of last week’s defeat to the Stormers, and with Bath boasting an impressive pack, McMillan is hoping the Samoa international, and the returning Jean Kleyn will offer a big impact at the Rec.
"He's been great actually," the New Zealander said of Ala’alatoa.
"He's an experienced character and he's come in, he's fitted in seamlessly.
"He's familiar with the number of bodies that we already have here. He's a really good addition. We've put him onto the bench and he'll play an important role for me.
"JK [Jean Kleyn] definitely helps. He's just a big body. Outside of tighthead props, tighthead locks are your next most valuable man on the team sheet.
"He's going to add value there, but scrummaging, for me, is an eight-man job.
"The guys numbered 1, 2 and 3 have the spotlight put on them, but really their ability to function relies heavily on the other five blokes giving them everything that they've got. That's been our focus.
"We haven't put any attention or spotlight or asked any questions of the referees. I think we haven't earned the right to do that. We need to just be better in our craft, bite down on the mouth guard and be better.
"We know that that's an area where we will be targeted tomorrow. If we don't find some gains from last week, then it could be a long day at the office.
"Again, proud men here that don't enjoy being put to the sword like that."
Saturday’s defeat was the first blip Munster have had under McMillan since his summer arrival.
While the province haven’t won the Champions Cup since 2008, the competition remains high on the agenda for any Munster coach.
And McMillan says he’s looking forward to experiencing the Champions Cup buzz for himself.
"There's been a lot of excitement around the team, around the province.
"It's an exciting part of the year and we're keen to see how we shape up against some of the best teams in the world.
"Last week was another one of those sort of Jekyll and Hyde performances where we probably played some of our best rugby in the first half and really didn't show up in the second. So that was unfortunate because we wanted to continue to make our home ground a real fortress.
"But we have shown some form when we've played away from home and sort of backs to the wall stuff here against a quality side. The focus has been good. The training week has been good.
"Now we're ready to give it a shake," he added.
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