Reds and Warriors braced for battle
Both sides lost their recent European Champions Cup ties against French powerhouses Toulouse and Clermont Auvergne by narrow margins and now see the domestic league as the more likely means of picking up some silverware.
Going into the tenth series of matches this weekend, Munster were topping the table with 32 points, one ahead of Ospreys, Glasgow and Ulster so the importance of today’s game cannot be overstated. Nevertheless, rival coaches Gregor Townsend and Anthony Foley have been left with little option but to test the quality of their squads and mix and match bearing in mind the busy programme looming over the festive period.
Former Scotland and Lions out-half Townsend spoke yesterday about how satisfied he is with his group of players and duly backed up those words by making ten changes from the side that went down 19-11 in Toulouse last week. He has altered the entire front-row, placing his trust on this occasion in Gordon Reid, Fraser Brown and veteran Euan Murray while leading try scorer Van den Merwe and Scottish international Sean Lamont are recalled on the wings. Former Munster centre James Downey is on the bench.
The front-row of the scrum presents a major challenge for Munster and it looks as if John Ryan is set for a lengthy and busy stint at loose head prop. Kevin O’Byrne and Stephen Archer start this week for Duncan Casey and B J Botha; Billy Holland returns in place of Dave Foley in the second-row while Sean Dougall and Rob Copeland replace Tommy O’Donnell and C J Stander in the back-row. Denis Hurley and Pat Howard are reunited in the centre with J J Hanrahan switching to out-half for Ian Keatley who is listed among the replacements along with Botha and Felix Jones of the team that lost in Clermont.
Memories are still fresh of the fractious semi-final clash of the teams at this afternoon’s venue last April when Munster left Glasgow feeling strongly that they had come out the wrong end of some dubious refereeing decisions that cost them a 16-15 defeat. Foley would dearly like to put the record straight on this occasion but it will be far from easy given that Glasgow have won each of their last twelve matches in the Pro 12 at Scotstoun. It has certainly become something of a fortress for the Warriors.
Munster assistant coach Brian Walsh sees things in a similar light: “There has been a bit of history between us over the past couple of years in terms of trying to get results and obviously it is going to be a very difficult game for us over there. The next three matches will go a long way towards deciding where we will be at the end of the year”.
GLASGOW WARRIORS: P Murchie; S Lamont, R Vernon, P Horne, DTH Van der Merwe; F Russell, N Matawalu; G Reid, F Brown, E Murray, L Nakarawa, J Gray, R Harley, T Holmes, J Strauss capt.
Replacements: D Hall, A Allan, J Welsh, T Swinson, R Wilson, H Pyrgos, J Downey, T Seymour.
MUNSTER: J Murphy; A Conway, P Howard, D Hurley, S Zebo; JJ Hanrahan, C Murray; J Ryan, K O’Byrne, S Archer, B Holland, P O’Connell, P O’Mahony capt, S Dougall, R Copeland.
Replacements: N Scannell, E Guinazu, BJ Botha, Donncha O’Callaghan, Dave O’Callaghan, D Williams, I Keatley, F Jones.
Referee: L Hodges (Wales).
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