Tadhg Beirne heads a long list of injury concerns for Munster ahead of Saturday's interprovincial derby against Leinster.
Beirne and fellow Ireland international Craig Casey both suffered groin injuries in the bonus-point victory over the Vodacom Bulls.
They will undergo scans this week along with Edwin Edogbo (calf), Stephen Archer (ankle) and Calvin Nash (thigh), while Roman Salanoa is undergoing return-to-play protocols after suffering a head injury in the final play of the Bulls match.
Munster travel to the Aviva Stadium having won one of their last nine meetings with Leinster and forwards coach Andi Kyriacou said the province’s medical staff were working around the clock to try and ensure those players are available.
He's a proud Munster man, but Donal Lenihan's view of the Leinster-Munster rivalry and a huge weekend encounter at the Aviva is anything but rose-tinted. #RTErugby #AgainstTheHead pic.twitter.com/ApUAOitdTf
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) October 17, 2022
"That’s the beauty of going Saturday to Saturday, we get that extra day’s work and time for lads to recover," said Kyriacou.
"Our medical team is doing a hell of a job trying to get these lads patched up. We’ll see, we will make some decisions on Thursday.
"We will keep our cards close to our chest on that one and just give the lads as much time as possible so we can get them out on the field."
There was plenty of encouragement to be taken from Munster's 31-17 triumph against the Bulls at Thomond Park, with the province's young guns shaping as key figures in Graham Rowntree's project. #RTErugby #AgainstTheHead pic.twitter.com/0l4irsVv2B
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) October 17, 2022
Summer signing Antoine Frisch is being managed for a calf injury suffered on the Emerging Ireland tour but Patrick Campbell is back in training after recovering from illness.
International back three trio Andrew Conway, Keith Earls and Simon Zebo remain sidelined due to injury.
After an uninspiring start to the season, Munster's performance against the Bulls was perfect timing ahead of a trip to the capital to face a Leinster side who have won all five matches in this season’s BKT United Rugby Championship.
"It was really encouraging to see, and I know Wig [Graham Rowntree] has talked about this a lot, the good work we are doing in training starts materialising and transferring into match performances," said Kyriacou.
"We see the way we carry and our collisions are pivotal to the way we play, it creates so many opportunities for us. The exciting thing from reviewing the game is there are a lot more chances out there for us to take.
"We knew we had to handle a pretty big pack and I felt we did that. It was a positive performance but there is still more to come."
Watch Leinster v Munster in the United Rugby Championship on Saturday from 4.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport and follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app
