URC Preview: Munster v Cell C Sharks

Simon Zebo is hoping to make a winning return to Thomond Park – and RG Snyman a memorable home debut – as Munster entertain Cell C Sharks in their opening United Rugby Championship game.

UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 1: Saturday, September 25

MUNSTER v CELL C SHARKS, Thomond Park, 7.35pm (live on RTÉ 2/Premier Sports 1/SuperSport Rugby/URC TV)

Team News: Simon Zebo returns to competitive action for Munster – for the first time since May 2018 – as they welcome Cell C Sharks to their Limerick fortress.

Zebo’s second stint with his home province begins in earnest with Saturday’s United Rugby Championship opener, a game which should see RG Snyman play at Thomond for the first time.

Tickets are only available online here. Tickets will be available to purchase online right up to kick-off but will not be available to purchase at Thomond on matchday.

Eight of Munster’s Ireland internationals who featured in the Vodafone Summer Series, including captain Peter O’Mahony, are primed to start.

Zebo, the province’s record try scorer, features on the left wing with Mike Haley and Andrew Conway completing a potent-looking back-three.

With Chris Farrell nursing an abdominal injury, Dan Goggin will partner Rory Scannell in midfield. Joey Carbery, who finished last season with 65 points, and Craig Casey fill the half-back slots.

Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell and John Ryan pack down together in the front row, supported by Jean Kleyn and the 23-year-old Fineen Wycherley from the engine room.

Indeed, it is the same starting pack that closed out the Rainbow Cup against Zebre in June, as O’Mahony, Jack O’Donoghue and Gavin Coombes, last season’s Player of the Year, round out the starting XV.

South African Snyman is itching for his first involvement since his ill-fated debut against Leinster in August 2020 when he tore his ACL.

Like Snyman, former Leinster scrum half Rowan Osborne is also set to play his first game for Munster at Thomond, on what will be his competitive debut for the Reds.

Head coach Johann van Graan commented: “What we’ll find with the United Rugby Championship is it is going to be competitive. There’s no perceived easy games.

“There’s not a lot of games where you can put in a perceived second-string team – this is going to be a battle week in, week out.

“It doesn’t matter which draw you have, with Leinster playing the Bulls or Zebre playing the Lions, it is going to be more competitive and that’s brilliant to have as a competition.

“It’s eight rounds of the competition, you’ll get ups and downs during the season and our focus is only on this first block of five games, specifically the first one.”

Meanwhile, Cell C Sharks open their URC campaign, taking some continuity into their first competitive game against a northern Hemisphere team.

Head coach Sean Everitt has stuck with the same pack of forwards that lined up against Vodacom Bulls in the recent Currie Cup final.

Ruan Pienaar, on loan from the Toyota Cheetahs, marks his return to the Sharks after an 11-year absence from the team where his senior career began, and blossomed.

The only other change to the starting XV sees Boeta Chamberlain named at out-half after the departure of Lionel Cronje following his short-term stint with the Durban side during the Currie Cup.

There is a welcome return for the lock duo of Hyron Andrews and Ruben van Heerden. The pair have been included on a forwards-dominated bench with a six-two split.

Prop Thomas du Toit is expecting a huge onslaught from the men in red, but warns that his side will not be holding back either, with both sides looking to impose themselves physically.

“They’re a physical side, all Irish sides are, but that doesn’t that South African sides are not as physical,” he said.

“It’s definitely going to be a tough game of rugby with physicality at the front and centre. We, as South Africans, don’t want to disappoint as far as physicality goes.”

With their Bulls connection via van Graan, du Toit admits that there are going to be similarities between Munster and the local Pretoria team but explains their well-roundedness makes them a very dangerous prospect.

“Munster have a good kicking game and will look to play in the right areas of the field, but when they need to put the ball through phases, they can do that. So, the big challenge for us is going to be stopping their momentum throughout the game.”

MUNSTER: Mike Haley; Andrew Conway, Dan Goggin, Rory Scannell, Simon Zebo; Joey Carbery, Craig Casey; Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell, John Ryan, Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley, Peter O’Mahony (capt), Jack O’Donoghue, Gavin Coombes.

Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Jeremy Loughman, Keynan Knox, RG Snyman, Thomas Ahern, Rowan Osborne, Ben Healy, Chris Cloete.

CELL C SHARKS: Curwin Bosch; Yaw Penxe, Werner Kok, Marius Louw, Thaakir Abrahams; Henry ‘Boeta’ Chamberlain, Ruan Pienaar; Khwezi Mona, Kerron van Vuuren, Thomas du Toit, Le Roux Roets, Gerbrandt Grobler, Dylan Richardson, Henco Venter, Phepsi Buthelezi (capt).

Replacements: Fez Mbatha, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Khutha Mchunu, Mpilo Gumede, Ruben van Heerden, Hyron Andrews, Sanele Nohamba, Jeremy Ward.

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), Dermot Blake (Ireland)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)

Pre-Match Quotes: Johann van Graan (Munster) –

Zeebs was always a class player, he just continued that way at Racing. I’d say he’s certainly developed his game even more from a maturity point of view, from a leadership point of view.

“Obviously the more you play the more experienced you become and just small little things in terms of back-three play, the way you attack and the way you defend and the running line and he’s really shared that with everybody around him.

“We’ve got a saying, ‘we don’t compete with each other, we share with each other’, and he’s been really excellent with all the lads and the younger lads.

“If you look at our squad there’s some incredible competition in that back-three and everybody’s bought into and so has he. So really good to have him around the building.”

Sean Everitt (Cell C Sharks) –

The boys are up for the challenge, we have some experienced players who have played in the PRO14 before and have had a taste of European conditions.

“We have coaching staff who have coached at the highest level, we’re all confident we can do well overseas.

“We’ve taken a young squad mixed with some older heads with experience and it will be exciting to see what these guys can deliver against opposition we don’t see too often, nor play against.”

Top Scorers – 2020/21 Guinness PRO14/Rainbow Cup: Munster – Points: JJ Hanrahan 98; Tries: Gavin Coombes; Cell C Sharks – Points: Curwin Bosch 43; Tries: Reniel Hugo, Kerron van Vuuren 3

RECENT CHAMPIONSHIP MEETINGS:

N/A

MATCH FACTS:

– Munster lost just once in last season’s Rainbow Cup, 24-20 to Connacht in Limerick on May 14

– The last non-Irish team to defeat Munster in the Championship at Thomond Park was the Scarlets, 30-21 in February 2017

– The Munstermen’s record against South African teams in the Championship is won eight, lost one, with the defeat being 40-16 against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein in October 2019

– Cell C Sharks reached the final of the Currie Cup earlier this month but lost 44-10 to Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria

– The Sharks’ most recent trip to the northern Hemisphere was a 45-10 victory over the Sunwolves in Singapore in February 2019 in Super Rugby

– The two sides have never met in a competitive fixture before