Conference A leaders Munster visit Parc y Scarlets for the first time since September 2016, chasing their third victory in Wales in the space of a month after successful recent trips to Newport and Swansea.
GUINNESS PRO14: Saturday, March 2
SCARLETS (5th, Con B) v MUNSTER (1st, Con A), Parc y Scarlets, 5pm (live S4C/eir Sport 1/Premier Sports 2/TG4)
Team News: The Munster team has been announced for this evening’s GUINNESS PRO14 encounter with the Scarlets at Parc y Scarlets, which is a repeat of the 2017 Championship final.
Billy Holland captains the province again with seven changes to the side that defeated the Ospreys 19-13 last Friday night. Centre Rory Scannell returns to the starting XV for his 100th Munster appearance and will become the youngest ever player to hit the century mark having turned 25 in December.
It is all change at half-back where 22-year-old Tipperary youngster Bill Johnston and New Zealander Alby Mathewson team up, while the final addition to the back-line sees Ronan O’Mahony slot in on the right wing.
John Ryan returns from international duty to start at tighthead prop, Jean Kleyn, who was a late withdrawal from the team in Swansea, has recovered from illness to start in the second row and Conor Oliver joins Fineen Wycherley and Arno Botha in the back row.
The in-form Mike Haley, who scored the match-winning try against the Ospreys, continues at full-back with O’Mahony and Darren Sweetnam stationed out wide. For his 100th senior cap, Scannell is partnered by 24-year-old Limerick man Dan Goggin in the centre.
Johann van Graan’s men have won seven games in a row and lead GUINNESS PRO14 Conference A by a single point from Glasgow Warriors. The Scarlets have lost just one PRO14 game at their Llanelli fortress since September 2016.
Munster travel without ten players who are in Ireland camp in Belfast, building towards next week’s Guinness Six Nation game against France. They are Tadhg Beirne, who was the province’s man-of-the-match against the Ospreys, Joey Carbery, Andrew Conway, Keith Earls, Chris Farrell, Dave Kilcoyne, Conor Murray, Peter O’Mahony, Niall Scannell and CJ Stander.
Meanwhile, centre Kieron Fonotia will lead the Scarlets for the first time when they take on Munster in round 17. The Samoan international takes over the captaincy from Jake Ball and skippers a team showing just one change to the side that saw off the Toyota Cheetahs 43-21 last Sunday.
Five of Wales’ Guinness Six Nations squad members – Leigh Halfpenny, Wyn Jones, Ryan Elias, Rhys Patchell and Steff Evans – are included in Wayne Pivac’s matchday 23. With Ball retained by Wales, Lewis Rawlins comes into the second row to partner Josh Helps. Patchell and Evans are named among the replacements.
SCARLETS: Leigh Halfpenny; Ioan Nicholas, Kieron Fonotia (capt), Paul Asquith, Johnny McNicholl; Dan Jones, Kieran Hardy; Wyn Jones, Ryan Elias, Werner Kruger, Josh Helps, Lewis Rawlins, Josh Macleod, Dan Davis, Uzair Cassiem.
Replacements: Marc Jones, Phil Price, Javan Sebastian, Tom Price, Tom Phillips, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Rhys Patchell, Steff Evans.
MUNSTER: Mike Haley; Ronan O’Mahony, Dan Goggin, Rory Scannell, Darren Sweetnam; Bill Johnston, Alby Mathewson; Jeremy Loughman, Rhys Marshall, John Ryan, Jean Kleyn, Billy Holland (capt), Fineen Wycherley, Conor Oliver, Arno Botha.
Replacements: Kevin O’Byrne, Liam O’Connor, Stephen Archer, Darren O’Shea, Jack O’Donoghue, Neil Cronin, Tyler Bleyendaal, Jaco Taute.
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Dave Sutherland (Scotland)
Television Match Official: Ian Davies (Wales)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Scarlets to win: 4/5; Draw: 14/1; Munster to win: 11/10
Pre-Match Quotes: Johann van Graan (Munster) –
We are playing against a quality side that has been playing exceptional rugby on their home turf over the last two seasons. They have already beaten the European and PRO14 champions. You just have to watch the game last week (against the Cheetahs). After 20 minutes they were up 28-0.
“We are under no illusions about what awaits us in Llanelli. It’s a team that I respect a lot. They have a very good coaching staff and some exceptional players with a plan that suits them and they execute it well. We knew at the start of the season going to Wales for two weekends in a row that it would be a tough assignment.”
Wayne Pivac (Scarlets) –
We were pleased to get the five points against the Cheetahs last weekend. The start was everything we had hoped for and to score four tries inside 20 minutes was perfect for us. We all know that Munster are going to be a very different proposition. They will bring a lot aggression in defence, a lot more line-speed as a lot of northern Hemisphere teams are doing.
“That poses a different challenge, we need to be on our game and are expecting more of an arm-wrestle. You look at the table with five games to go and it looks like being a real dog-fight, potentially I can see it going down to the last weekend.”
Top Scorers – 2018/19 GUINNESS PRO14: Scarlets – Points: Dan Jones 58; Tries: Johnny McNicholl 8; Munster – Points: Joey Carbery 75; Tries: Keith Earls, Andrew Conway 5 each
2018/19 TEAM FORM: Scarlets – Played 16, Won 8, Lost 8, 41 Points; L 15-13 v Ulster (away), W 23-21 v Leinster (home), W 38-29 v Benetton Rugby (home), L 33-20 v Connacht (away), W 54-14 v Isuzu Southern Kings (home), W 20-17 v Ospreys (home), W 41-34 v Isuzu Southern Kings (away), L 31-21 v Edinburgh (away), W 29-12 v Ulster (home), L 29-20 v Glasgow Warriors (away), L 19-12 v Ospreys (away), L 34-5 v Cardiff Blues (home), W 22-13 v Dragons (home), L 22-17 v Leinster (away), L 25-19 v Benetton Rugby (away), W 43-21 v Toyota Cheetahs (home); Munster – Played 16, Won 12, Lost 4, 58 Points; W 38-0 v Toyota Cheetahs (home), L 25-10 v Glasgow Warriors (away), W 49-13 v Ospreys (home), L 37-13 v Cardiff Blues (away), W 64-7 v Ulster (home), L 30-22 v Leinster (away), W 25-24 v Glasgow Warriors (home), W 30-26 v Toyota Cheetahs (away), W 32-7 v Zebre (away), W 44-14 v Edinburgh (home), L 19-12 v Ulster (away), W 26-17 v Leinster (home), W 31-24 v Connacht (away), W 8-7 v Dragons (away), W 43-0 v Isuzu Southern Kings (home), W 19-13 v Ospreys (away)
RECENT LEAGUE MEETINGS:
Friday, October 23, 2015 – Scarlets 25 Munster 22, Parc y Scarlets
Saturday, May 7, 2016 – Munster 31 Scarlets 15, Thomond Park
Saturday, September 3, 2016 – Scarlets 13 Munster 23, Parc y Scarlets
Friday, February 24, 2017 – Munster 21 Scarlets 30, Thomond Park
Saturday, May 27, 2017 – Final – Munster 22 Scarlets 46, Aviva Stadium
Saturday, March 24, 2018 – Munster 19 Scarlets 7, Thomond Park
MATCH FACTS:
– The Scarlets’ three-match losing run in all tournaments ended with their 43-21 victory at home to the Toyota Cheetahs last weekend
– The Welshmen have been beaten just once in the GUINNESS PRO14 at Parc y Scarlets since September 2016, by Cardiff Blues in December
– Munster’s only defeat in the last ten rounds of the PRO14 was 19-12 at Ulster on December 21. Munster have won their last four away games in all competitions since then
– The two sides have met just once since the Scarlets won the 2017 final at the Aviva Stadium, Munster winning 19-7 in Limerick last March
– The Munstermen won on their most recent visit to Parc y Scarlets in September 2016 to end a five-match winless streak at the venue