Munster have been hindered in their preparations for the Guinness Pro12 opener against Edinburgh after an email was leaked which showed coaches claiming that some of the Irish club's major players are not good enough to feature in the team.

Edinburgh will visit Limerick on Friday, but their hosts have been more concerned with easing the tensions in the squad.

Players have been instructed by club officials not to speak publicly about the impact of the email or the contents of the message, which is understood to attack the players personally. Indeed, one experienced internationalist was allegedly described as being "on the gravy train" and another was labelled "mentally weak".

Anthony Foley, the Munster head coach, held an emergency meeting with his squad over the weekend in the hope of clearing the air before stepping up preparations for the Edinburgh match. One player who is unlikely to feel disgruntled ahead of that game, though, is Eusebio Guinazu - the Argentina hooker who has agreed a four-month contract with Munster to offset the loss of Mike Sherry to a shoulder injury.

"It is not a crisis or anything like it. The senior players met to talk about it [over the weekend] and though it might have been hurtful to one or two players, we've moved on," said one Munster source, who confirmed that the incendiary notes were an attachment to an email which was not intended to be sent to the senior squad.

"The vast majority have accepted it was a mistake. Anthony spoke to the group and said it shouldn't have happened, rather than try to bull**** them."