David O’Callaghan To Undergo Knee Surgery
David O’Callaghan will undergo surgery today after a specialist confirmed yesterday that the Corkman injured the patellar tendon in his right knee against Zebre on Saturday.
Following the surgery, David O’Callaghan will rehab for the immediate future. The 24-year-old suffered the injury during the first half of Munster’s bonus point win over Zebre.
The player who replaced him after 18 minutes, Donncha O’Callaghan, came on to make his 241st appearance and become Munster’s most-capped player.
Speaking about the achievement and his aims for the future, the Ireland lock said: “I suppose physically I’m getting good scores and that matters to me and I’m just a little bit driven.
“I want to achieve and straight away you think of (Munster cap) 242 and I think of (Ireland cap) number 95. That’s what drives me and that’s the competitive nature of it.
“You see the bigger picture as well and you see the squad we have and it’s about making sure of the little things that you can influence by the way you conduct yourself and the legacy that other fellas have left, the standards.
“I’m not saying you enforce them but you make sure guys are aware of them,” added the 34-year-old.
Meanwhile, Duncan Casey, who also had to be withdrawn from the Musgrave Park game, has a dead leg and will be monitored as the week continues.
Ivan Dineen played 80 minutes for Cork Constitution last Friday night as he made his return from an ankle injury sustained while playing for Munster ‘A’ against Nottingham last month.
Paddy Butler returns to full training this week for the first time since injuring his neck playing for Shannon against Blackrock College last month.
Damien Varley is back conditioning and rehab running and is expecting to take part in full training next week.
Varley continues to follow the IRB return-to-play protocols after suffering from delayed concussion following the Heineken Cup pool match against Edinburgh last month.
Luke O’Dea will take part in limited training this week after suffering a lateral ligament sprain playing for Munster ‘A’ against Connacht Eagles.
Keith Earls, who injured his knee against Edinburgh last month, is progressing well with his rehab and Niall Scannell is a week into his rehabilitation programme after hyper-extending his elbow in training, an injury that rules him out for up to eight weeks.
Longer-term injury absentees, Mike Sherry and Niall Ronan, are continuing with their rehabilitation programmes.