Burke And Oliver Added To Munster ‘A’ Starting Pack
The Munster ‘A’ squad will play their British & Irish Cup round 4 fixture on Sunday against the Ospreys Premiership Select at Bridgend RFC (kick-off 3pm).
Following on from last weekend’s 28-8 bonus point victory at Old Crescent RFC, Munster ‘A’ head coach Mick O’Driscoll has made four changes to the starting line-up.
In the pack, Academy players Rory Burke and Conor Oliver are both promoted from the bench, while the selected back-line sees the introduction of Cathal Sheridan and Ronan O’Mahony.
Tighthead prop Burke scrums down next to hooker Kevin O’Byrne and tighthead Liam O’Connor, while in the back row Oliver starts at blindside flanker. Billy Holland, who will captain the side, continues his second row partnership with Academy member Sean McCarthy.
The scrum half rotation continues this week with Sheridan starting at number 9, and the only other change to the backs division sees O’Mahony named on the right wing.
With the province’s matchday line-up including a mix of senior and Academy players, club players Brendan Quinlan (Cork Constitution) and Ben Betts (Young Munster) are named in the replacements.
MUNSTER ‘A’ (v Ospreys Premiership Select): David Johnston; Ronan O’Mahony, Matt D’Arcy, Cian Bohane, Darren Sweetnam; Bill Johnston, Cathal Sheridan; Liam O’Connor, Kevin O’Byrne, Rory Burke, Sean McCarthy, Billy Holland (capt), Jordan Coghlan, Conor Oliver, Shane Buckley.
Replacements: Brendan Quinlan, Ben Betts, Ben Kilkenny, Sean Doyle, Duncan Williams, Dan Goggin, Stephen Fitzgerald.