Sat. Oct 12th, 2024

PREVIEW: Munster make four changes for Italy trip as province look to continue perfect start

ByJohn O'Donnell

Friday, 27 September 2024, 13:46 , , , ,
Munster Rugby Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/James Crombie
There are four changes and three positional switches to the side that secured a bonus-point win against Connacht last weekend.

Munster head coach Graham Rowntree has named his side for tomorrow’s trip to Parma to play Zebre in Round 2 of the URC Championship (3 pm KO).

Munster come into the game after a massive 35-33 win over Connacht at Thomond Park last weekend.

Josh Wycherley and Oli Jager come into the front-row while Tony Butler and Calvin Nash come into the backline. Thaakir Abrahams moves to the left wing, Tom Farrell moves over to inside centre and Shane Daly now partners him at outside centre.

Wycherley and Jager will be on either side of captain Diarmuid Barron in the front row, while the second-row pairing of Jean Kleyn and Fineen Wycherley remains unchanged. The back row also remains unchanged and is made up of Ruadhán Quinn, John Hodnett and Gavin Coombes.

The province are coming off a massive 35-33 bonus point win over Connacht in Thomond Park last Saturday. Despite being behind for large periods of the game, Munster rallied late in the second half with a late Shane Daly try in the corner converted by Tony Butler to seal the win in front of a 15,705 crowd.

Butler comes into the side at out-half in place of Billy Burns, who picked up a shoulder injury against Connacht.

Jack Daly, Shay McCarthy, and Conor Murray are among the replacements and are set for their first appearances of the season while Limerick’s Bryan Fitzgerald is also included and is in line for his competitive Munster debut.

Burns and Alex Nankivell were the casualties from the Connacht win, while Patrick Campbell and Liam Coombes also join the list of injured players which includes Diarmuid Kilgallen (leg), Brian Gleeson (shoulder), Cian Hurley (knee), Tom Ahern (ankle), Rory Scannell (ankle), Paddy Patterson (knee), Edwin Edogbo (achilles), and Roman Salanoa (knee).

Munster have had a perfect record travelling to Italy in the Championship over the last ten years, with their last defeat coming back in September 2013 in Treviso.

Their opponent in Zebre come into this fixture after a 22-17 loss away to Cardiff last weekend. After falling 22-3 behind, the Italian side rallied and managed to put pride on the scoreline with two late tries.

The match will be available to watch live at 3 pm on RTE 2 or the RTE Player, as well as Premier Sport 2. 

Squads

Munster: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Shane Daly, Tom Farrell, Thaakir Abrahams; Tony Butler, Craig Casey; Josh Wycherley, Diarmuid Barron (c), Oli Jager; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Ruadhán Quinn, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.

Replacements: Niall Scannell, Jeremy Loughman, John Ryan, Jack Daly, Jack O’Donoghue, Conor Murray, Bryan Fitzgerald, Shay McCarthy.

Zebre: Geronimo Prisciantelli; Jacopo Trulla, Giulio Bertaccini, Luca Morisi, Simone Gesi, Giovanni Montemauri, Alessandro Fusco; Danilo Fischetti (c), Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, Matteo Nocera, Matteo Canali, Leonard Krumov, Davide Ruggeri, Samuele Locatelli, Giovanni Licata.

Replacements: Giampietro Ribaldi, Luca Rizzoli, Juan Pitinari, Andrea Zambonin, Giacomo Ferrari, Patricio Baronio, Scott Gregory, Giacomo Da Re.

Referee: Hollie Davidson (RFU)

Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (FIR), Alex Frasson (FIR)

TMO: Neil Hennessy (WRU)