URC: Munster v Bulls
Thomond Park (Saturday 5.15pm, live on RTÉ, Premier Sports)
Bordeaux left a tangible legacy: a depleted bank balance for supporters who funded a second trip in a week to France following the La Rochelle jaunt, and a cluttered treatment room as Gavin Coombes (ankle), Calvin Nash (ankle), Diarmuid Barron (shoulder/arm) and John Hodnett (toe) succumbed to injuries sustained in the Champions Cup quarter-final defeat.
Munster’s interim head coach Ian Costello had plenty to ponder after a rip-roaring contest at the Stade Chaban-Delmas in which the Irish province looked like they would be eviscerated by their hosts in the first half an hour, only to produce a brilliant second-half fightback.
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For the clash with the Bulls, Seán O’Brien replaces Nash on the right wing, while Niall Scannell, Tom Ahern and Alex Kendellen are promoted to the starting pack. Hooker Lee Barron, who along with prop Michael Milne was given early release by Leinster to join Munster, is named among the replacements.
There is a 6-2 split on the bench, with Conor Murray and Diarmuid Kilgallen - set to play for the first time since picking up an injury in February - covering the backline. Costello’s second task this week was to fix a lineout that did more to destabilise Munster’s ambitions than any other single component in their performance.
This isn’t throwing a dart at a hooker, rather an acknowledgment that the whole unit was some way below the required levels. Their opponents, the Bulls, also had one or two issues in the lineout in a Challenge Cup defeat to Edinburgh.
Their captain and secondrow Ruan Nortje admitted: “Lineouts are a big part of our game where we implement ourselves and try to create momentum. I think that in the first half, especially, there was a skew throw or a miss, a knock-on, just fundamentals that we missed.
“It’s one that we as players take on the chin. We were not good enough. It’s something that has to be much better this weekend.”
Two lineouts searching for redemption will be one of the subplots, with Tadhg Beirne who calls the Munster one, Ahern and Peter O’Mahony central to any solution for the home team.
Munster’s shape in attack has been largely impressive under backs’ coach Mike Prendergast, with centres Alex Nankivell and Tom Farrell contributing handsomely.
The numbers are especially supportive for the 31-year-old Farrell, who leads the way in the URC’s “playmaker” metric, with five try assists, 34 offloads and 49 defenders beaten. Throw in six tries, 14 matches and 1,053-minutes in the league and his impact is obvious. Nankevill brings a nice edge on both sides of the ball.
O’Brien has been consistently excellent and was unfortunate not to start last weekend, while Thaakir Abrahams gives Munster something that is not endemic to Irish rugby - top-end pace. Craig Casey and Jack Crowley enable the team to play at a quicker tempo with good game management.
Up front, the other set-piece skill, the scrum, will also get a rigorous examination. Costello said: “We’ve been on the road a lot, so it’s really nice to be at home. Three of our last four games are at home which is really important to us. The Bulls’ physicality is huge. They are big powerful men. How we deal with their power-game will be a key factor to winning.
“They have got a very strong and varied kicking game, as well. So, they pose a lot of threats, and we will have to be very, very close to our best to get a result.”
Nortje leads a pack that includes powerful ball-carriers and fine athletes, including hooker Akker van der Merwe, flanker Marcell Coetzee and number eight Cameron Hanekom. Johan Goosen is a clever and experienced outhalf while David Kriel and Canan Moodie are game-breakers.
If Munster tap into the quality they demonstrated in the second half of the game in Bordeaux and fix the set-piece, then they should win. The Bulls start as five-point underdogs with the bookies, illustrating what’s anticipated to be a close contest.
Munster: T Abrahams; S O’Brien, T Farrell, A Nankivell, A Smith; J Crowley, C Casey; J Wycherley, N Scannell, O Jager; J Kleyn, T Beirne (capt); T Ahern, P O’Mahony, A Kendellen. Replacements: L Barron, M Donnelly, S Archer, F Wycherley, J O’Donoghue, C Murray, D Kilgallen, R Quinn.
Bulls: D Williams; S de Klerk, D Kriel, H Vorster, C Moodie; J Goosen, E Papier; J-Hendrik Wessels, A van der Merwe, W Louw; C Wiese, R Nortje (capt); M Coetzee, J Kirsten, C Hanekom. Replacements: J Grobbelaar, S Matanzima, M Smith, JF van Heerden, N Carr, Z Burger, K Johannes, S Jacobs.
Referee: A Piardi (Italy)
