At the time, Munster never revealed the names of their 14 players and staff who had to stay behind and isolate in South Africa on that ill-fated tour in November.
Naturally, the province wanted to protect the privacy of those involved, but as the days and weeks have passed some of those players and coaches have been comfortable enough detailing their experiences of back-to-back isolation experiences, first in South Africa, before having to complete a further quarantine upon their return to Ireland.
Earlier this week, forwards coach Graham Rowntree confirmed he was one of the 14 who had to stay back in South Africa, trying to prepare a team for a Heineken Champions Cup from a laptop screen in Cape Town.
Full-back Mike Haley has also gone into detail on what it was like being stuck on the other side of the world, as well as how he and some of his team-mates are still getting back up to speed from such an unusual lay-off.
Haley started in last Saturday's 10-8 defeat to Connacht at the Sportsground, one of several senior players getting their first bit of gametime since the earlier derby against the western province in October, a period of 11 weeks between games, considerably longer than a pre-season campaign.
While the players and management say their idle period is no excuse for their performance against Connacht at the weekend, Haley admits he and some others are still getting their "standards back up".
"It's just getting your timing and being able to deal with the pressures that come with the game," he said, when asked about how tough it has been to regain his fitness and sharpness.
"When we had the time off with South Africa and isolation, you can be doing all the training you want in the background, but until you get into the full-speed swing of a game of rugby, whether it's in training or on the field, there are elements of timing and reading situations that you just can't get in any other situation.
"If you look at a pre-season you have around five, six or seven weeks to get up to that speed so that by the first game you're flying. There's situations here with lads that hadn't really played for seven or eight weeks, had done nothing.
"You come in and have a couple of weeks training and you got to perform at the highest level and that's where you have to put yourself in the best situation, or training as best you can, getting all the reps you can and getting up to speed. It's a challenge and it's something we're all addressing."
While Haley and his team-mates are all seasoned, professional athletes, he points out it's not as simple as jogging back out onto the training pitch after more than three weeks in isolation and making himself available to play.
First, they had to start running again, and establish a base level of fitness before they could enter team training, so they could handle the demands of a professional rugby environment without falling victim to a soft-tissue injury.
The Ireland international said: "It's just getting as many reps as possible, it goes hand in hand because once you ramp up the volume the tendency is that injuries can crop up and you have to be very careful.
"What we found is that they dealt with it really well getting us back into the fold, but what showed in my performance at the weekend there's elements where there's just a bit of rust there.
"You can't put too much pressure on yourself, there's going to be mistakes and it's one of the things people say - mistakes happen in rugby, if you worry about them too much you'll compound them.
"You just have to brush them off and keep going forward, that's something in training this week - you've got to be like water off a duck's back, keep going and get the reps in, get the feel and the touch and then the timing goes with it.
"Then you should be back to where you where."
"You find ways to get through, it was quite nice that we were all involved in the team meetings virtually and seeing the boys, the excitement preparing for the Wasps game was really special how it developed."
When asked about his thoughts on returning to South Africa in March to complete their scheduled games against the Bulls and the Lions, Haley wisely chose the diplomatic answer: "It's above my pay-grade".
However, he added that the travel uncertainty and chaos caused by Covid-19 is an unfortunate reality that comes with the territory of life as a professional rugby player.
"It was a tough time, having your family back here," the 27-year-old said, "but it's done now and I just want to get a move on, get playing rugby again and then whatever happens happens. It's not for me to decide."
"It was very tough, there was an element of frustration being stuck in a room for 24 hours a day, it goes around and around in your head - 'what's going on here like?
"It is what it is, 10 days here. Fly back, 10 days again. You just talk to family, go on FaceTime all the time, chat to the little lad who is coming up to three and he can talk on the phone now, which is nice.
"This missus was there, her mum came out to help and stuff. It wasn't too bad.
"You find ways to get through, it was quite nice that we were all involved in the team meetings virtually and seeing the boys, the excitement preparing for the Wasps game was really special how it developed."
As difficult as their situation was, Haley and Munster can't afford a similar showing this Saturday against Ulster at Thomond Park.
Their defeat to Connacht was the second poor performance in a row by Johann van Graan's side, after they had struggled to beat a second-string Castres side in the Heineken Champions Cup.
Earlier this week, forwards coach Rowntree admitted to some "clear-the-air" conversations in their Monday review, and Haley says the challenge posed by Ulster is one that will focus the minds.
"We're not hiding from the fact that we were massively disappointed (against Connacht). It was a frustrating game for us, we didn't perform, we just needed to hash a few things out, have a meeting and talk through some of the key points that arose from the game.
"You get that out of the way on a Monday and I think that's been a good opportunity because the squad's only been back together for a couple of weeks. If you get a performance like that early, it gives you a bit of a kick in the teeth and you have to get it right straight away.
"We're looking at it potentially as a blessing in disguise, so we can put it to bed and move on. The best thing you can do is park it on the Monday and look ahead to the weekend.
"The best thing to get over a poor performance is to get back on the horse and look forward to next week. There's a bit of excitement around the camp again, and we're looking forward to putting a better performance from the weekend."
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