Guinness PRO14 Preview: Munster v Connacht

Munster’s task is simple on Sunday – win and they are in the Guinness PRO14 semi-finals. It is never easy, though, when you are playing a derby and especially against opponents like Connacht who are on a high following last week’s excellent victory over Ulster.

GUINNESS PRO14: Sunday, August 30

MUNSTER (2nd, Con B) v CONNACHT (4th, Con B), Aviva Stadium, 3pm (live eir Sport 1/Premier Sports 2/DAZN/SuperSport 1/www.pro14.tv/deferred TG4)

Team News: Ireland forward Tadhg Beirne makes a welcome return to the Munster team. He is set to play for the first time since fracturing his ankle away to Saracens in the Heineken Champions Cup last December.

All five personnel changes are up front as Beirne, Jeremy Loughman, John Ryan, Fineen Wycherley and Chris Cloete are drafted in by head coach Johann van Graan. Beirne and Wycherley start together in the second row for the first time.

Loughman and Ryan, who turned 32 earlier this month, pack down with Niall Scannell in the front row, with captain Peter O’Mahony, Cloete and CJ Stander completing the Reds’ starting pack.

The Munstermen field an unchanged back-line which includes JJ Hanrahan, the leading scorer in this season’s PRO14 (111 points), and wingers Andrew Conway and Keith Earls who both touched down against Leinster. Corkman Shane Daly completes the back-three.

Conor Murray is retained at scrum half and there is a second successive start for the newly-formed centre pairing of Chris Farrell, last Saturday’s man-of-the-match, and South African recruit Damian de Allende.

Jack O’Donoghue, who returns from a concussion sustained in training last week, Kevin O’Byrne, Liam O’Connor and Jack O’Sullivan are all included among the replacements and are set for their first appearances since the return to rugby.

Speaking ahead of the trip back to the Aviva Stadium, van Graan said: “We have training this afternoon and hopefully that goes well and all players selected come through that. Connacht really played well against Ulster and it’s always a big battle facing them, we expect a very good game on Sunday afternoon.”

Meanwhile, there are 14 changes to the Connacht team that saw off Ulster in bonus point style last weekend, with head coach Andy Friend keen to give game-time to more players after a long absence due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Among those starting is former Munster back Sam Arnold who makes his Connacht debut in the centre, while there is a first appearance too for powerful Kiwi number 8 Abraham Papali’i who signed from Bay of Plenty.

Another ex-Munster player, Conor Oliver, gets his first start in the westerners’ back row, following his debut off the bench last week. Eoghan Masterson continues at blindside flanker, and the fit-again Quinn Roux captains the side from the engine room.

There is a third senior start for 20-year-old lock Niall Murray, whose promotion from the Academy was confirmed in June, and it is all change in the front row where Paddy McAllister and Dominic Robertson-McCoy team up with Birr native Shane Delahunt.

Conor Fitzgerald and Caolin Blade are paired together at half-back, Arnold has Tom Daly for company in midfield, and Colm de Buitléar’s hard work in rehabbing a serious Achilles injury is rewarded with a long-awaited start on the right wing.

It will be a massive moment for the talented Carraroe youngster who has not lined out for Connacht since January 2019. He will have experienced pair Tiernan O’Halloran and Matt Healy alongside him in the back-three.

Giving his pre-match thoughts, Friend commented: “Our key objective in these two games has always been to give players some much-needed game-time while putting in two positive performances which reflects the work they’ve put in as a squad these past few months.

“Thankfully, we’ve so far managed to do that after last week’s excellent result (against Ulster). Now is an opportunity for a new group of players to impress so I’m looking forward to seeing them in action.

“Interpros against our neighbours Munster are always keenly contested and Sunday will be no different. They have a PRO14 semi-final to clinch but we’ll be looking to end our 2019/20 campaign on a high. We’ve also got two players making their debuts in Sammy and Abraham so it’ll be a special occasion for them.”

MUNSTER: Shane Daly; Andrew Conway, Chris Farrell, Damian de Allende, Keith Earls; JJ Hanrahan, Conor Murray; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, John Ryan, Fineen Wycherley, Tadhg Beirne, Peter O’Mahony (capt), Chris Cloete, CJ Stander.

Replacements: Kevin O’Byrne, Liam O’Connor, Stephen Archer, Billy Holland, Jack O’Donoghue, Craig Casey, Rory Scannell, Jack O’Sullivan.

CONNACHT: Tiernan O’Halloran; Colm de Buitléar, Sam Arnold, Tom Daly, Matt Healy; Conor Fitzgerald, Caolin Blade; Paddy McAllister, Shane Delahunt, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Niall Murray, Quinn Roux (capt), Eoghan Masterson, Conor Oliver, Abraham Papali’i.

Replacements: Jonny Murphy, Conor Kenny, Matthew Burke, Ultan Dillane, Sean Masterson, Stephen Kerins, Peter Robb, Conor Dean.

Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Sean Gallagher, Chris Busby (both Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)

Pre-Match Quotes: JJ Hanrahan (Munster) –

Looking at the (Leinster) game as a whole there were, I suppose, a few more positives than negatives. There was definitely a bit of anxiety in the week in terms of being out for so long, not having played a game, there was definitely that bit of nervousness.

“You are up against one of the best teams in Europe so you are kinda thinking, ‘How is that going to go?’. It’s not your usual pre-season friendly down in Irish Independent Park, so it was very different in that aspect.

“Overall, I thought, as a group, we did quite well. We executed a lot of stuff that we spoke about that we wanted to do. There were a couple of elements in the game we could have done better for sure. We spoke about that and hopefully we can set them right going forward. But it has been a good start.

“I think the most enjoyable thing for us is that it has been the first block where we’ve had all the international lads in, all the provincial lads in at the same time, Steve (Larkham) and JP (Ferreira) and ‘Wig’ (Graham Rowntree) have all gotten to put their stamp on what we really want to do for an extended period of time.

“So we have all kinda felt the most aligned we felt over an eight-week period as opposed to the (international) lads coming in for two to three weeks and expecting to play at a high level and understand everything, which has been really good.”

Quinn Roux (Connacht) –

I put in some good performances and then in that six months leading up to the World Cup squad I had an illness and I struggled to get back in then. I missed out on that group. That kind of was a tough time for me.

“Then I got back, played some decent rugby at the start of this season and then over that Christmas period before the Six Nations I broke my thumb again. It was really frustrating but I’m just hoping I can run in a string of games now and put my hand up again and show that I can get selected on form and hopefully get involved again.

“It’s a big challenge, it was a really frustrating few months injury-wise so hopefully I can put that behind me now. I feel really good, I’ve leaned up a bit. I’m 116 kilos now, I’m not 118 any more so I feel I can get around the park. I feel really good physically so I’m ready to go again.

“I used to play around 119. I think I lost bad weight, so I think that can just help me, I don’t think that will make a big difference in the scrum really. As long as my tightheads are happy, which I’m sure they are when I’m behind them, I’m happy to go.

“We all have our own little string to our bow or a combination of locks. It’s good to have that competitiveness in the squad amongst the second rows. I think there is a lot of positions in the squad at the moment that lads are competing for spots so that can only be good for us.”

Top Scorers – 2019/20 Guinness PRO14: Munster – Points: JJ Hanrahan 111; Tries: Arno Botha 6; Connacht – Points: Conor Fitzgerald 59; Tries: John Porch, Kieran Marmion 4 each

2019/20 TEAM FORM: Munster – Played 14, Won 9, Lost 5; W 39-9 v Dragons (home), W 31-20 v Isuzu Southern Kings (away), L 40-16 v Toyota Cheetahs (away), W 28-12 v Ospreys (home), W 33-23 v Cardiff Blues (away), W 22-16 v Ulster (home), L 18-16 v Edinburgh (home), W 19-14 v Connacht (away), L 13-6 v Leinster (home), L 38-17 v Ulster (away), W 68-3 v Isuzu Southern Kings (home), W 28-0 v Zebre (away), W 29-10 v Scarlets (home), L 27-25 v Leinster (away)

Connacht – Played 14, Won 8, Lost 6; L 18-10 v Scarlets (away), W 41-5 v Benetton Rugby (home), W 38-14 v Dragons (away), W 24-22 v Toyota Cheetahs (home), W 20-10 v Ospreys (away), L 42-11 v Leinster (home), W 24-12 v Isuzu Southern Kings (home), L 19-14 v Munster (home), L 35-3 v Ulster (away), L 54-7 v Leinster (away), W 29-0 v Cardiff Blues (home), L 41-14 v Edinburgh (away), W 29-19 v Isuzu Southern Kings (away), W 26-20 v Ulster (home)

RECENT CHAMPIONSHIP MEETINGS:

Saturday, May 6, 2017 – Munster 50 Connacht 14, Thomond Park
Friday, October 27, 2017 – Connacht 20 Munster 16, the Sportsground
Saturday, January 6, 2018 – Munster 39 Connacht 13, Thomond Park
Saturday, January 5, 2019 – Connacht 24 Munster 31, the Sportsground
Saturday, April 27, 2019 – Munster 27 Connacht 14, Thomond Park
Saturday, December 21, 2019 – Connacht 14 Munster 19, the Sportsground

MATCH FACTS:

– Munster’s four match-winning run in all competitions ended with their 27-25 defeat to Leinster last Saturday

– The Munstermen have won only once at the Aviva Stadium/Lansdowne Road since 2006: 34-23 in the Championship on October 4, 2014

– Connacht have won three of their last four Guinness PRO14 matches with the defeat coming against Edinburgh at BT Murrayfield in round 12

– Last weekend Connacht beat Ulster 26-20 at the Aviva Stadium, their first victory at the venue since beating Leinster there in 1985

– Connacht’s only victory in their last seven encounters with Munster was 20-16 in Galway in October 2017

– The two sides have never met before at the home of Irish Rugby