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No Andrew Conway as Munster name side for Toulouse in Dublin
By Ian Cameron
Andrew Conway didn't win his race for fitness ahead of Munster's vital Heineken Champions Cup clash with Toulouse at the Aviva Stadium this weekend.
When Munster and Stade Toulousain clash on Saturday, both clubs will be making a record 19th appearance at the quarter-final stage of the tournament.
Peter O'Mahoney - has registered the most turnovers with 13 from his five matches - will captain the side from the flank.
On his 247th appearance for Munster, Stephen Archer starts at tighthead prop. Archer ties Billy Holland for second place on the all-time list of appearance holders in the province, behind Donncha O'Callaghan (268).
Mike Haley begins at fullback, flanked by Keith Earls and Simon Zebo.
Conor Murray and Joey Carbery form the half-back pairing with Damian de Allende and Chris Farrell in the center.
In the front row, Josh Wycherley, Niall Scannell, and Archer pack down, while Jean Kleyn and Fineen Wycherley load down in the engine room. O’Mahony, Alex Kendellen and Jack O’Donoghue complete the starting XV.
Flanker Jack Daly is among the replacements and in line to make his European debut on his sixth Munster appearance. A native of Currans in Kerry, Daly came up through the ranks at Castleisland RFC and plays his AIL rugby with Garryowen
Munster: Mike Haley; Keith Earls, Chris Farrell, Damian de Allende, Simon Zebo; Joey Carbery, Conor Murray; Josh Wycherley, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Peter O’Mahony (C), Alex Kendellen, Jack O’Donoghue.
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Jeremy Loughman, John Ryan, Jason Jenkins, Thomas Ahern, Craig Casey, Ben Healy, Jack Daly.
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Latest Comments
What’s new its a common occurrence, just the journos out there expecting a negative spin. The outcome will be beneficial to jordie and Leinster. The home grown lads hav got some experience to step up to and be more competitive, that or spend the 6 months keeping the bench warm.
Go to commentsI’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
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