Munster stick with same 23 for crucial Benetton meeting
Peter O'Mahony and Tadhg Beirne. Pic: James Crombie/Inpho
Munster will stick with the 23-man matchday squad which delivered a bonus-point win over Ulster as they bid to overcome Benetton in Cork on Friday night and secure their place in the URC play-offs and qualification for next season’s Champions Cup.
Interim head coach Ian Costello on Thursday named an unchanged starting line-up and bench from the 38-10 derby win at Thomond Park last Friday when Peter O’Mahony, Stephen Archer and Conor Murray made their final appearances at the famous Limerick stadium before their summer departures.
Now it is Cork’s turn for a fond farewell with Virgin Media Park set to be at a full capacity of 8,800 with hometown heroes Archer and O’Mahony in the starting forward pack ahead of their retirements at the end of the season while fellow veteran Murray will appear on home turf for the final time from the bench as scrum-half cover before moving overseas to a new club when his current deal expires in July.
The objective is to extend the veteran trio’s stays in the red jersey into the URC knockout rounds and the ability to name an unchanged line-up for the first time this season is an undoubted boost to Munster’s hopes of at least hanging onto the eighth and final qualification spot in the standings.
Starting scrum-half Craig Casey is set for his 100th Munster appearance while lock Jean Kleyn will make his 150th appearance for the province since a 2016 move from the Stormers having been named in an extended South Africa squad on Thursday for a Springbok alignment camp next week, which he will attend virtually as one of 17 other overseas-based South African players in Rassie Erasmus’s 54-strong panel.
Kleyn will partner captain Tadhg Beirne in the second row, with Michael Milne, Niall Scannell and Archer forming the front row while the back row comprises O’Mahony, John Hodnett and No.8 Gavin Coombes.
The backline is anchored once again by Casey and fly-half Jack Crowley, with Thaakir Abrahams at full-back with wings Calvin Nash and Diarmuid Kilgallen in the back three.
Alex Nankivell partners Tom Farrell in the centres as the latter continues his ever-present record this season with start number 25, a week on from a two-try man of the match performance against Ulster.
Benetton, level on points with Munster but a place ahead in the table in seventh, will also be unchanged from the strong line-up, littered with Italian internationals, which hammered defending champions Glasgow 33-7 in Treviso last weekend.
Former Munster star Malakai Fekitoa is retained on the bench.
Meanwhile, as expected, Connacht have confirmed that defence coach Scott Fardy will leave the province at the end of the season.
T Abrahams; C Nash, T Farrell, A Nankivell, D Kilgallen; J Crowley, C Casey; M Milne, N Scannell, S Archer; J Kleyn, T Beirne - captain; P O’Mahony, J Hodnett, G Coombes.
L Barron, J Wycherley, J Ryan, F Wycherley, T Ahern, C Murray, S O’Brien, A Kendellen.
R Smith; I Mendy, T Menoncello, I Brex, P Odogwu; J Umaga, A Garbisi; T Gallo, S Maile, S Ferrari; S Scrafton, F Ruzza – captain; R Favretto, M Zuliani, L Cannone.
B Bernasconi, M Spagnolo, T Pasquali, N Cannone, S Negri, N Casilio, T Albornoz, M Fekitoa.
M Lowry; W Kok, J Poslethwaite, S McCloskey, J Stockdale; J Murphy, N Doak; A Warwick, R Herring, T O'Toole; K Treadwell, I Henderson - captain; C Izuchukwu, N Timoney, D McCann.
T Stewart, C Reid, S Wilson, H Sheridan, J McNabney, D Shanahan, A Morgan, S Moore.
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