Mike Haley has revealed how tough it was as one of the Munster players who had to stay in Cape Town due to the Covid problems that hit the camp.
And he admits that the decision on returning to South Africa to play re-arranged URC fixtures in March is "above my pay grade".
Haley and 13 more of the Reds' travelling party spent 10 days in South Africa last month after the rest of the squad were allowed to leave, then had to isolate for 10 days when he returned home.
With two small children at home, it was a difficult period for the 27-year-old full-back.
Haley said: "It's just the times we live in though, isn't it? You see all the teams are dealing with it across all sports.
"It's incredibly tough, especially when we got stuck out in South Africa. There was a group of 14 lads left out there, then you come back and do another 10 days.
"It was very tough, there was an element of frustration being stuck in a room for 24 hours a day, it goes around and around in your head - 'what's going on here like?
"It is what it is, 10 days here, fly back, 10 days again. You just talk to family, go on FaceTime all the time, chat to the little lad who is coming up to three and he can talk on the phone now, which is nice.
"This missus was there, her mum came out to help and stuff. It wasn't too bad.
"You find ways to get through, it was quite nice that we were all involved in the team meetings virtually and seeing the boys, the excitement preparing for the Wasps game was really special how it developed."
Without so many senior players, Munster pulled off a famous Champions Cup win at Wasps but their performances since then in the win over Castres in Europe and last weekend's URC loss to Connacht have left a lot to be desired.
In mitigation, the Reds have been dealing with "turmoil", as coach Graeme Rowntree described it, for the past month with players going into and then out of quarantine.
"That's tough to handle, but as soon as you get back to training you have to be able to switch on and get back into the mode of playing rugby," said Haley.
"There's going to be some ring-rust there but you have to get that out of the way and move on. It's just the way things are at the moment.
"People will pick up Covid through no fault of their own. Everyone is doing their utmost to stay safe, it's just so infectious that people get it, so you have to be adaptable.
"You can't rely and think things are set in stone. You have to be fluid, and the situation is constantly changing - the past eight or 10 weeks have been a massive example of that."
Whether Haley and his team-mates would like to return to South Africa in a couple of months time, if clubs are given the green light to travel to play their postponed fixtures there, is another matter.
"You'd have ask my missus, she was stuck with two young kids at home," said the Ireland international. "I'd say she had a tougher time than I did.
"Jeez, it's nothing for me...I can't control it, can I? It's above my pay-grade.
"It was a tough time, having your family back here, but it's done now and I just want to get a move on, get playing rugby again and then whatever happens happens.
"It's not for me to decide."
Haley says it would be a "recipe for disaster" for the Reds to take on Ulster on Saturday with any hangover from last week's loss to Connacht.
Munster were well below par at the Sportsground and addressed the performance in a big review on Monday.
But Haley said: "What we're blessed with in this squad is that we have a lot of very experienced internationals.
"We had a meeting, but very quickly we park that. That's not something we are thinking about any more.
"This weekend we have a massive challenge against Ulster and if you go into a game against Ulster still thinking about mishaps from the prior weekend it's a recipe for disaster.
"That's been parked, we're looking forward to the game this weekend.
"We've got great leaders like Peter O'Mahony, everybody else who are pushing us firmly in that direction."
Haley added: "We're not hiding from the fact that we were massively disappointed.
"It was a frustrating game for us, we didn't perform, we just needed to hash a few things out, have a meeting and talk through some of the key points that arose from the game.
"You get that out of the way on a Monday and I think that's been a good opportunity because the squad's only been back together for a couple of weeks.
"If you get a performance like that early, it gives you a bit of a kick in the teeth and you have to get it right straight away.
"We're looking at it potentially as a blessing in disguise, so we can put it to bed and move on.
"There's no bigger challenge with Ulster and the interpros with Leinster and Connacht and Ulster are all insanely tough games, there is no easy match there."
