Gavin Coombes handed first European start for Munster

Gavin Coombes (23) will make his European debut for Munster against Harlequins on Sunday.

Gavin Coombes will make his European debut for Munster against Harlequins after being named alongside Peter O’Mahony and CJ Stander in the back row for Sunday’s Heineken Champions Cup opener at Thomond Park (5.30pm).

Head coach Johann van Graan has rewarded the 23-year-old from West Cork for a great start to the 2020-21 season in which Coombes has scored five tries in five starts at No.8. The Skibbereen native has been handed the blindside flanker role for the English Premiership side’s visit to Limerick, with captain O’Mahony on the openside and Stander returning to No.8, two of eight Irish internationals restored to the Munster XV after an eight-week absence on Test duty.