Munster young guns hoping to put on a show in Kingdom
Munster bounced back from an opening day defeat to Cornish Pirate with an impressive win over Neath a fortnight ago and will be keen to continue that momentum against the Scots.
Munster coach Ian Costello makes two front row changes from the side that defeated Neath with Duncan Casey and Christy Condon starting in place of Sean Henry (jaw injury) and Stephen Archer (in the Munster Heineken Cup squad). The bench includes academy player Cian Bohane and Garryowen’s James Rael for the first time. Peter Borlase is also included after recovering from a back injury.
Costello believes opportunities exist for more youngsters to make a mark. He said: “This tournament gives us fantastic competitive games for our second string and obviously the aim is to produce players for the senior side. Mike Sherry, Conor Murray, Peter O’Mahony all came through the side last year. Conor is an international, Mike travelled to the World Cup, Peter is playing week in week out, captaining the side. If we can produce two or three players every year for the Heineken Cup side we would be very happy.”
And with Tralee hosting its first B&I Cup game, the coach is looking forward to breaking new ground in the Kingdom: “The way to reflect is to look back on the pre-season training that we had down there. They (Tralee) were fantastic hosts and what was really pleasing that day was how big the crowd was. With the Heineken Cup match on television afterwards, Tralee are making a massive effort to create a real atmosphere.”
MUNSTER: S Scanlon; L O’Dea, T Gleeson, JJ Hanrahan, R O’Mahony; D Cusack, D Williams; D Kilcoyne, D Casey, C Condon; D Foley, I Nagle; B Holland (captain) P Butler, T O’Donnell.
Replacements: J Rael, P Borlase, D O’Callaghan, B O’Hara, C Sheridan, C Bohane, C Hircock.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
