1
Follow all the action on the RugbyPass live blog from the Guinness PRO14 match between Ulster and Munster at Kingspan Stadium.
ADVERTISEMENT
Keep up to date with the latest score, stats and join the conversation from anywhere in the world in our Live Match Centre (click here).
Iain Henderson and Jacob Stockdale have returned to the Ulster starting XV. They are two of three changes made by Dan McFarland to the side that recorded a bonus-point victory against Connacht last weekend.
Stockdale is the only change to the starting backline, coming in on the left wing alongside Will Addison at full-back and Robert Baloucoune on the right wing. The familiar duo of Stuart McCloskey and Luke Marshall make up the midfield pairing. Billy Burns and John Cooney also maintain their starting half-back partnership.
The front row is unchanged from last week. Jack McGrath starts at loosehead, Rob Herring at hooker and Marty Moore starts in the tighthead position. Henderson resumes the captaincy and starts in the second row with Alan O’Connor. Matthew Rea once again starts at blindside, as does last week’s man-of-the-match Sean Reidy at openside. Nick Timoney is at No8.
(Continue reading below…)
RugbyPass travelled to Brecon to see how life after rugby is treating Andy Powell
Joey Carbery, meanwhile, is set to start his first match for Munster since their May 2019 Guinness PRO14 semi-final loss to Leinster in Dublin. The out-half, who limped off before half-time in a Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final at Edinburgh the month prior to that loss in Dublin, has continued to endure an injury-hit campaign this season.
Stretchered away from Ireland’s World Cup warm-up win over Italy last August, he made it back to make three appearances off the bench at the finals in Japan for Ireland.
ADVERTISEMENT
“PRO14 rugby is much more exciting than Premiership rugby, has been for years."
– Michael Bradley talks Prem v PRO14 with @heagneyl ???https://t.co/iTlvoOlb8y
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 29, 2019
However, he returned to Limerick with an aggravation of his ankle injury that has only recently come right. He appeared as a replacement in last weekend’s PRO14 loss to Leinster and will now wear the No10 shirt. His comeback – if successful – could be very timely for Ireland given that Johnny Sexton, the talisman Carbery shadowed at the World Cup, has been injured since early December.
Carbery is one of ten changes to Munster’s starting line-up as they head to Belfast, Shane Daly, Sammy Arnold, Rory Scannell, Fineen Wycherley and Jack O’Donoghue the five to keep their places. Peter O’Mahony returns to captain the side with Andrew Conway and Keith Earls coming into the side on the wings.
ADVERTISEMENT
ULSTER: Will Addison; Robert Baloucoune, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Billy Burns, John Cooney; Jack McGrath, Rob Herring, Marty Moore, Alan O’Connor, Iain Henderson (capt), Matthew Rea, Sean Reidy, Nick Timoney. Reps: John Andrew, Kyle McCall, Tom O’Toole, David O’Connor, Greg Jones, David Shanahan, Bill Johnston, Craig Gilroy.
MUNSTER: Shane Daly; Andrew Conway, Sammy Arnold, Rory Scannell, Keith Earls; Joey Carbery, Conor Murray; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Keynan Knox, Fineen Wycherley, Darren O’Shea, Peter O’Mahony (capt), Jack O’Donoghue, Arno Botha. Reps: Diarmuid Barron, Dave Kilcoyne, John Ryan, Gavin Coombes, Jack O’Sullivan, Neil Cronin, Dan Goggin, Chris Cloete.
WATCH: Follow every game from the Gallagher Premiership and Guinness PRO14 LIVE in the RugbyPass Match Centre with live commentary, scores, stats and more including HD streaming in some countries
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments