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Munster give debuts to their two South African World Cup winners, Conan fit for Leinster
By Online Editors
Munster have chosen South African World Cup-winning duo Damian de Allende and RG Snyman to start against Irish rivals Leinster at the Aviva Stadium in this Saturday's Guinness PRO14 restart fixture. Seeking a first win at the ground since 2014, Munster are facing a Leinster team unbeaten in all 19 of their 2019/20 league and cup fixtures so far.
De Allende is partnered in the centre by Chris Farrell with Conor Murray and JJ Hanrahan in the half-backs, while Snyman joins Billy Holland in the engine room. Jack O’Donoghue was not available for back row selection having sustained a concussion at training this week.
Coach Johann van Graan said: "It was a real squad effort the last nine weeks, everyone gave it their all. There were a lot of close calls and that just shows the depth that we have created."
Leinster, who will be skippered by Johnny Sexton, have chosen a backline of riches featuring Jordan Larmour, Dave Kearney and James Lowe in their back three with Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose in the centre.
With James Ryan injured, Ryan Baird is involved for the first time against Munster having previously played against Ulster (his debut in 2019) and Connacht.
The back row will see Jack Conan play for the first time this season having recovered from an ankle injury picked up at the 2019 World Cup. His last game for Leinster was the May 2019 PRO14 final win over Glasgow.
LEINSTER: 15. Jordan Larmour; 14. Dave Kearney, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Robbie Henshaw, 11. James Lowe; 10. Johnny Sexton (capt), 9. Luke McGrath; 1. Cian Healy, 2. Ronan Kelleher, 3. Andrew Porter, 4. Ryan Baird, 5. Scott Fardy, 6. Caelan Doris, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Jack Conan. Reps: 16. Sean Cronin, 17. Ed Byrne, 18. Michael Bent, 19. Devin Toner, 20. Will Connors, 21. Jamison Gibson-Park, 22. Ross Byrne, 23. Max Deegan,
MUNSTER: Shane Daly; Andrew Conway, Chris Farrell, Damian de Allende, Keith Earls; JJ Hanrahan, Conor Murray; James Cronin, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer, RG Snyman, Billy Holland, Peter O’Mahony (capt), Tommy O’Donnell, CJ Stander. Reps: Rhys Marshall, Dave Kilcoyne, John Ryan, Jean Kleyn, Chris Cloete, Craig Casey, Rory Scannell, Matt Gallagher.
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Not all sports are going the same way though. The current top 4 managers in the premier league are 46 (slot), 43 (arteta), 51 (espírito santo), & 45 (maresca) (although Guardiola is 54). Ten years ago (at the end of the 2014-15 season) the top 4 managers were 52 (mourinho), 61 (pellegrini), 63 (van gaal), & 65 (wenger). Ten years before that they were 42 (mourinho), 55 (wenger), 63 (ferguson), & 41 (moyes). That’s an average age of 50 in 2005, 60 in 2015, and 46 in 2025.
I don’t follow football much, but it seemed like there was a trend towards older coaches which just went quite badly for a lot of clubs, forcing a pivot towards youth. The experience of Wales and Australia in giving chances to Jones and Gatland might also motivate rugby teams to hire younger coaches. I don’t follow NFL or NBA so not sure what is happening in those leagues!
Go to commentsSavea will start for All Blacks this season as he was clearly one of the top two loose forwards in NZ in 2024 and is in Super Rugby so far this season.
The question is which position will Savea start at.
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