'It has been very frustrating for him' - Munster hoping Jenkins return can give them an extra edge

The return of Jason Jenkins could give Munster an extra edge in the final third of the season, according to senior coach Stephen Larkham.

The 26-year-old South African has endured a nightmare season to date, with injuries to his shoulder, thigh and most recently abdomen limiting him to just one appearance as a substitute.

The one-cap Springbok, who is set to move east to Leinster next season, is expected to return to action this week when Munster host Benetton on Friday night at Musgrave Park in the United Rugby Championship.

And with just five regular season games left in the URC, as well as the Champions Cup knockouts coming up, Larkham believes Jenkins could be the province's secret weapon in the business end of the season.

"Definitely, he's a quality player, that’s the reason we brought him here in the first place," Larkham said.

"It has been very frustrating for him, I guess similar to RG [Snyman], we haven’t seen him on the park."

Munster name their team tomorrow for Friday night's game, but Larkham has hinted he could be put straight into a starting role.

"He trained really well today and we are kind of in desperate need of second rows.

"Fineen [Wycherley] and JK [Jean Kleyn] have played just about every minute of the last couple of games so, with Thomas Ahern being injured, RG being injured, and some of the younger guys being injured as well, it’s timing so it’s really good to have him back.

"He obviously has to get through the rest of the week but it’s good to have him back training."

The province are yet to establish the extent of the knee injury suffered by Andrew Conway while in Ireland camp.

The 30-year-old wing missed the final game of Ireland's Six Nations campaign last week with a knee complaint.

However, Larkham