The province is looking to bounce back from their shock defeat to Zebre last time out
Munster head coach Graham Rowntree has named his side to play Ospreys in Round 3 of the URC tomorrow at Virgin Media Park, Cork (7.35 pm KO).
The match marks the province’s season opener in Cork and sees eight changes to the starting lineup which fell to a 42-33 defeat against Zebre in Parma last weekend.
The changes see Garryowen club man Bryan Fitzgerald make his first start after an impressive cameo off the bench last week while captain Tadhg Beirne, Jack Crowley, and Peter O’Mahony all start on their first appearances of the season.
Winger Shay McCarthy also comes into the team along with experienced forwards Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, and Jack O’Donoghue.
Mike Haley starts at full-back with a Limerick pairing of Calvin Nash and McCarthy rounding out the back three. Ireland stars Craig Casey and Crowley are the half-backs with Fitzgerald and Tom Farrell starting at centre.
Loughman and Scannell come off the bench to join the returning Oli Jager in the front row with Jean Kleyn and Beirne the second-row pairing. O’Mahony, John Hodnett, and O’Donoghue make up the back row.
The province has gone with a 6-2 split on the bench with Diarmuid Barron, John Ryan, and Stephen Archer covering the front row. Fineen Wycherley, Gavin Coombes, and Jack Daly will cover the other forward positions while Conor Murray and Tony Butler are the backline replacements.
Their opponents Ospreys bounced back from a close loss to Welsh rivals Dragons in Round One to record a bonus point win at home to the Stormers last weekend.
Munster’s injury list has grown meanwhile, with wingers Shane Daly and Thaakir Abrahams both casualties from the trip to Italy. Flanker Ruadhán Quinn failed a HIA on Saturday and is out this weekend as a result. Alex Nankivell is also unavailable because of a shoulder injury while Billy Burns remains out for the same reason.
Liam Coombes will have a scan on a leg injury and is unavailable this weekend and Patrick Campbell is seeing a specialist for a shoulder injury.
Continuing to rehab are Diarmuid Kilgallen (leg), Brian Gleeson (shoulder), Cian Hurley (knee), Tom Ahern (ankle), Rory Scannell (ankle), Paddy Patterson (knee), Edwin Edogbo (achilles), Roman Salanoa (knee).
For those thinking about heading to the game, tickets can still be got here. Adult tickets start at €20, Juniors from €10 & Family Packs (2 adults & 2 kids) are €40. Stadium sponsors Virgin Media will also give out free tea/coffee and goodie bags to lift spirits ahead of expected heavy rainfall in Cork.
If you can’t make it to Cork, RTE 2 will show the game as part of a double header which sees Leinster travel to Treviso at 5.15 pm before attention switches to the Munster v Ospreys match at 7.35 pm.
Squads
Munster: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Bryan Fitzgerald, Shay McCarthy; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Oli Jager; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne (C); Peter O’Mahony, John Hodnett, Jack O’Donoghue.
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, John Ryan, Stephen Archer, Fineen Wycherley, Gavin Coombes, Conor Murray, Tony Butler, Jack Daly.
Ospreys: Max Nagy; Iestyn Hopkins, Owen Watkin, Phil Cokanasiga, Ryan Conbeer; Dan Edwards, Reuben Morgan-Williams; Steffan Thomas, Dewi Lake, Tom Botha;Huw Sutton,Adam Beard;James Ratti, Jac Morgan (C), Morgan Morris.
Replacements: Sam Parry, Garyn Phillips, Ben Warren, Lewis Jones, Harri Deaves, Luke Davies, Jack Walsh, Keiran Williams.
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)
AR 1: Keane Davison (IRFU)
AR 2: Chris Lough (IRFU)
TMO: Sam Grove-White (SRU)