Injuries have forced Munster to shuffle the pack ahead of a tough battle with their fiercest rival
Munster head coach Graham Rowntree has named his side to play Leinster in Round 4 of the URC tomorrow in Croke Park (5.45 pm KO).
The match marks a rare occasion where rugby is being played at the GAA’s HQ with a sell-out crowd of 82,300 expected to attend.
Rowntree has made four changes to his side that held Ospreys scoreless on the way to a bonus point 23-0 win in Cork last weekend.
Alex Nankivell is back in the lineup after suffering a shoulder injury against Connacht in Round One while Seán O’Brien starts on the wing after returning from Emerging Ireland’s tour to South Africa earlier this week.
In the pack, Stephen Archer makes his first start of the season for the province replacing the injured Oli Jager. Gavin Coombes returns to the side at no.8 with Jack O’Donoghue moving to blindside flanker in place of the injured Peter O’Mahony.
Mike Haley is at full-back with Calvin Nash and O’Brien on the wings. Nankivell and Tom Farrell start together at centre with Craig Casey and Jack Crowley the half-back partnership.
Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell and Archer are in the front row with Jean Kleyn and captain Tadhg Beirne in the second row. O’Donoghue, John Hodnett, and Coombes make up the back row.
Diarmuid Barron, Kieran Ryan, and John Ryan are the front-row back-ups. Tom Ahern is included back among the replacements after recovering from an ankle injury while flanker Ruadhán Quinn is also back after completing the return-to-play protocols.
Conor Murray, Tony Butler and winger Shay McCarthy are the backline replacements.
One of the main stories on the Leinster side sees former Munster man RG Snyman make his home debut in blue against his old team. The province are looking to maintain their 100% start to the URC campaign, most recently downing Treviso 35-5 in Italy last weekend
If you weren’t lucky enough to get a ticket for the sell-out game in Croker, RTE 2 will show the match live with coverage starting at 5 pm.
Munster: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Seán O’Brien; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne (C); Jack O’Donoghue, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Kieran Ryan, John Ryan, Tom Ahern, Ruadhán Quinn, Conor Murray, Tony Butler, Shay McCarthy.
Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Liam Turner, Garry Ringrose, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe; Ciarán Frawley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Lee Barron, Tadhg Furlong; RG Snyman, James Ryan; Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (C).
Replacements: Gus McCarthy, Cian Healy, Thomas Clarkson, Ryan Baird, Max Deegan, Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne, Harry Byrne.
Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU)
AR 1: Peter Martin (IRFU) AR 2: Keane Davison (IRFU)
TMO: Mark Patton (IRFU)