Munster have made 12 changes to the side that defeated Benetton last weekend for their Champions Cup semi-final against Saracens at the Ricoh Arena on Saturday at 15 00.
Joey Carbery misses out as expected but he is joined on the side lines by quarter-final hero Keith Earls. Otherwise Munster are almost at full strength for the game.
Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell and John Ryan start in the front-row for the reds with Jean Kleyn and Tadhg Beirne slotting behind in the second-row.
Peter O’Mahony captains the side on his 50th Champions Cup appearance and is joined in the back-row by Jack Donoghue and CJ Stander.
Conor Murray will look to run things from the half-backs alongside Tyler Bleyendaal. While Rory Scannell and Chris Farrell come in at 12 and 13 respectively.
Darren Sweetnam begins on the left-wing, with Andrew Conway on the right and Mike Haley continuing at full-back to finish the starting XV.
On the bench Rhys Marshell, Jeremy Loughman, Stephen Archer, Billy Holland and Arno Botha are the forward replacements. Alby Mathewson, JJ Hanrahan and Dan Goggin are cover for the backs.
Here is your Munster team for tomorrow’s Champions Cup semi-final against Saracens! ? #SARvMUN
We’ll be arriving at the Ricoh Arena tomorrow at around 1.30pm if supporters would like to welcome our squad to the stadium!
See you there! #RedArmyRising #SUAF ? pic.twitter.com/3h2XwpPN6l
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) April 19, 2024
Speaking ahead of the game Munster head coach Johann van Graan believes that his team will be facing the best side in this year’s tournament thus far.
“They’ve been the team of the Champions Cup thus far. They haven’t lost a game yet, they’ve played some fantastic rugby and scored the most tries and they’ve got a lot of world class players in their team, so, we’re definitely up against a massive challenge away from home on Saturday afternoon,” he said.
The opposition is formidable with Mako
Vunipola, Jamie George and Titi Lamositele locking down in the front-three,
with England duo Maro Itoje and George Kruis as the locks.
Michael Rhodes, Jackson Wray and Billy
Vunipola make up the back-row. Vunipola will be sure to get some reaction from
the fans following his recent support for Israel Folau’s comments towards the
LGBT community.
Ben Spencer partners Owen Farrell in the half-backs,
with Brad Barritt and Alex Lozowski in the centre.
Liam Williams and Sean Maitland open on the
wings and Alex Goode slots in at 15.
With the likes of Will Skelton, Schalk
Burger and Richard Wigglesworth to call on from the bench, Saracens will be a
constant threat throughout the game.
Whoever wins this game will be incredibly
difficult as final opponents for either Leinster or Toulouse.
Key
Battles:
Mako Vunipola vs Dave Kilcoyne = This game
could be won or lost at the breakdown and the set-piece. Although they won’t be
on the same side of the scrum both of these will be vital to pushing their team
toward the final. Kilcoyne will also be expected to put in as many big hits as
possible on the English star who will look to burst holes in the Munster
defence. These two could hold the key to their side’s success or failure.
Billy Vunipola vs CJ Stander = Two massive
ball carriers and two massive players for their respective teams. Vunipola will
be under pressure to perform following his off-field antics over the past
couple of weeks, while Stander will need to lead from the front as always. The
personal battle of these is reason enough to watch this game.
Owen Farrell vs Tyler Bleyendaal = Farrell
has been in remarkable form this year and after missing out on a Six Nations
title and the quarter-final of the Champions Cup he will wan to add the trophy
to his cabinet. Bleyendaal is another who has had an amazing spell this year
and will need to be at his best to keep Farrell from turning screw on Munster.
Both kickers will need their accuracy to be on point as every point will count
in this clash.
No matter who comes out on top on Saturday
one thing is for sure it will be well deserved as we could be in for a real
treat of a game if both sides get into their groove.
