Ex-Ireland flyhalf Ross Byrne set to answer Irish rugby SOS?

Munster could offer out-of-favour Gloucester fly-half Ross Byrne the chance to get his career back on track, with Jack Crowley set to be ruled out of action until the New Year.

Crowley hasn’t played since April with a lower limb vascular injury, and Munster announced earlier this week that he will miss at least the first half of the new season.

Munster head coach Clayton McMillan is expected to ask if he can sign a replacement, and there are very few options available at this time of the season.

That could open the door to former Leinster and Ireland star Byrne to end his Kingsholm nightmare, where he still has two years left to run on the three-year deal he signed, switching from Dublin a year ago.

Byrne hasn’t played much for the Cherry and Whites after slipping down the pecking order, with Charlie Atkinson now George Skivington’s first choice in the playmaker role.

A member of Ireland’s 2023 Grand Slam-winning side, Byrne was reduced to being a member of the Gloucester squad at the end of last season, those players with no chance of playing helping prepare the team for the weekend’s game.

Byrne did have talks with Perpignan about a move to the Top 14 this season, but he was never their first choice, which was Toulon’s Italian international, Paolo Garbisi, whom they eventually signed.

A return to Ireland could be an ideal solution for Byrne, who played almost 200 games for Leinster before signing a lucrative deal with the Cherry and Whites.

Skivington told RugbyPass last season that the move hadn’t worked as anticipated because Byrne, who was also linked with the Sharks in Durban, struggled with their style of play.

“Being frank, it’s not gone the way we saw it going initially. But I think you caveat that, really, with Charlie, who is in a way better position than we could have anticipated. Ross is still here, training and being positive.

“There’s no, you know, there’s no sort of drama around that. The biggest challenge we’ve had since we made that switch is that we haven’t had loads of games, and to start rotating the 10 shirt doesn’t really work.

“Ross has sort of lost out because, you know, Charlie’s had the backing of it. It’s not ideal because, you know, if you had other opportunities to play, you could sort of give Ross another opportunity and see how that goes,” he said.