Rory Burke and Conor Oliver to start for Munster A
Coach Mick O’Driscoll has made four changes to the side which won 28-8 at Rosbrien last weekend.
In the pack academy players Rory Burke and Conor Oliver are both promoted from the bench while the backline sees the introduction of Cathal Sheridan and Ronan O’Mahony. Tighthead prop Rory Burke scrums down next to Kevin O’Byrne and Liam O’Connor, while in the backrow Conor Oliver starts at blindside. Billy Holland, who will captain the side, continues his partnership with academy lock Sean McCarthy in the second row.
The scrum-half rotation continues this week with Cathal Sheridan starting at nine and the only other change to the backline sees Ronan O’Mahony named on the wing.
With the side including a mix of senior and academy players, club players Brendan Quinlan (Cork Con) and Ben Betts (Young Munster) are named in the replacements.
Ospreys coach Dan Griffiths is hoping his outfit can gain some revenge after their 20-point reversal in Limerick.
“We played some really good rugby in the first half, we were matching them and had an opportunity to go into half time in the lead. We managed to get an early second half try to keep us in the game but it was just in the final quarter that we dropped off a little; they scored two tries and ultimately end up with a big score. I think the boys are really looking forward to facing them again; now we know more about their style of play and we have worked to improve our own game.”
R Fussell (captain); T Williams, J Thomas, O Watkin, K Phillips; L Price, M Aubrey; M Thomas, M Dwyer, M Fia; A Beard, R Bernardo; S Underhill, L Evans, I Boladau.
D Rogers, D Suter, G Thomas, R Jones, R Hughes, R Morgan-Williams, J Matavesi
D Johnston; R O’Mahony, M D’Arcy, C Bohane, D Sweetnam; B Johnston, C Sheridan; L O’Connor, K O’Byrne, R Burke; S McCarthy, B Holland (captain); J Coghlan, C Oliver, S Buckley.
B Quinlan, B Betts, B Kilkenny, S Doyle, D Williams, D Goggin, S Fitzgerald.
C Kelleher; A Byrne, C O’Shea, T Daly, M McGrath; C Marsh, C Rock: P Dooley, B Byrne, O Heffernan; T Beirne, R Molony; J Murphy, D Leavy, P Timmins (captain).
A Dundon, J Loughman, D O’Connor, T Ryan, M D’Arcy, S Crosbie, I Fitzpatrick.
