Hodnett returns as Munster make seven changes for Connacht clash
WARMING UP: John Hodnett during a Munster Rugby squad training session at the University of Limerick in Limerick. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
John Hodnett and Diarmuid Kilgallen are set for their first appearances of the season as two of seven changes to a winning Munster side for Saturday’s visit of Connacht to Thomond Park for a URC Round Five derby.
Jack O’Donoghue leads Munster from the back row as he shifts from openside to blindside flanker to accommodate Hodnett, who has recovered from a facial injury sustained in pre-season. Alex Nankivell, JJ Hanrahan, Lee Barron, Jean Kleyn and Gavin Coombes all step up to starting places after featuring as replacements in last Saturday’s 31-14 bonus-point derby win over Leinster while Kilgallen has recovered from the ankle injury that forced him out of the first four games to start on the right wing.
With captain Tadhg Beirne one of five absentees this weekend on Ireland duty and Saturday’s epic win at Croke Park accounting for the injury absences of Diarmuid Barron, Edwin Edogbo, Brian Gleeson, Paddy Patterson and Andrew Smith, it is a much-changed line-up and bench which will start Munster’s bid for a fifth win in a row.
JJ Hanrahan comes off the bench for Jack Crowley at fly-half for his third start of the season and will face the team he left after two years in Galway to return to his home province during the summer. The Kerryman is partnered at half-back by Ethan Coughlan, who started against Leinster and claimed Munster’s third first-half try.
Tom Farrell’s call-up to the Ireland squad now in Chicago to prepare for the Test against New Zealand on November 1 means a midfield reshuffle with Alex Nankivell coming off the bench as Dan Kelly switches from inside to outside centre, the starting duo renewing their partnership of the first two rounds.
There is also a new-look back three following Smith’s hamstring injury at Croke Park, with another former Connacht player, Kilgallen making his first appearance of the season on the right wing alongside full-back Shane Daly and left wing Thaakir Abrahams.
Barron’s neck injury in Dublin, sees Lee Barron promoted from the bench to starting hooker, while Niall Scannell returns from a lacerated hand to serve as covering hooker. Michael Milne and John Ryan continue at loosehead and tighthead prop respectively with Jeremy Loughman and Ronan Foxe providing their cover off the bench.
Jean Kleyn, called up in midweek by South Africa for their November Tests in the Northern Hemisphere, replaces the concussed Edogbo having replaced the 22-year-old from the bench and partners ever-present Fineen Wycherley, making his fifth-consecutive start in the second row.
Hodnett’s first involvement of the campaign comes at openside flanker as O’Donoghue switches to blindside as Beirne’s replacement, in the back row and as captain. Coombes comes in at No.8 to take over from Gleeson having replaced him following a first-half fractured elbow last weekend.
Academy scrum-half Jake O’Riordan, 20, makes his first appearance in a matchday squad and is set for his senior Munster debut from a bench which also includes lock Evan O’Connell and back-three cover Shay McCarthy, both in line for their seasonal debut. If the trio makes it onto the pitch, Munster will have fielded 41 players over the first five rounds of the URC season. Connacht are set to name their side for the derby on Friday.
Shane Daly; Diarmuid Kilgallen, Dan Kelly, Alex Nankivell, Thaakir Abrahams; JJ Hanrahan, Ethan Coughlan; Michael Milne, Lee Barron, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Jack O’Donoghue - captain, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Niall Scannell, Jeremy Loughman, Ronan Foxe, Evan O’Connell, Ruadhan Quinn, Jake O’Riordan, Tony Butler, Shay McCarthy.
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