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Leinster and Munster name teams for URC showdown in Aviva
Leinster and Munster have both named their teams for their mouth-watering URC showdown this Saturday in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
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Barring a pre-season game, it’s the first time that the two sides will meet since Munster dumped Leinster out of running for last season’s URC in a hotly contested semi-final.
Leo Cullen has named pretty much an Ireland XV for the clash, while Munster have made six changes to the side that beat Stormers last weekend.
Robbie Henshaw and Jack Conan are set for their first appearances of the season for Leinster, while Tadhg Furlong is set for this first start of the campaign.
Simon Zebo makes his first appearance of the season for the Munster and his first start at full-back for the men in red since 2018.
Leinster had dominated the fixture over the last five years, but last year’s URC semi-final defeat has breathed new life into the competitiveness of the rivalry.
LEINSTER:
15. Hugo Keenan
14. Jordan Larmour
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Robbie Henshaw
11. Jimmy O’Brien
10. Ross Byrne
9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Andrew Porter
2. Dan Sheehan
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Joe McCarthy
5. James Ryan (C)
6. Jack Conan
7. Josh van der Flier
8. Caelan Doris
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REPLACEMENTS: 16. Rónan Kelleher, 17. Jack Boyle, 18. Michael Ala’alatoa, 19. Ross Molony, 20. James Culhane, 21. Ben Murphy, 22. Ciarán Frawley, 23. Scott Penny
MUNSTER:
15. Simon Zebo
14. Calvin Nash
13. Antoine Frisch
12. Rory Scannell
11. Shane Daly
10. Jack Crowley
9. Craig Casey
1. Jeremy Loughman
2. Diarmuid Barron (C)
3. Stephen Archer
4. Jean Kleyn
5. Tadhg Beirne
6. Tom Ahern
7. John Hodnett
8. Gavin Coombes
REPLACEMENTS: 16. Scott Buckley, 17. Dave Kilcoyne, 18. John Ryan, 19. Brian Gleeson, 20. Alex Kendellen, 21. Conor Murray, 22. Tony Butler, 23. Shay McCarthy.
Comments on RugbyPass
I like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
40 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
41 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
41 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
41 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
40 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
1 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
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