MUNSTER BOSS JOHANN van Graan has welcomed his frontliners back for tomorrow’s crucial Guinness Pro14 clash against Connacht at the Sportsground [KO 7.35pm eir Sport/TG4].
Looking to respond to last weekend’s defeat away to Ulster, van Graan has been able to recall the likes of captain Peter O’Mahony, CJ Stander, Conor Murray, Keith Earls, and Damian de Allende as he makes 14 changes to his team.
James Cronin returns from an abdominal injury at loosehead prop, while Shane Daly is the only starter retained from last weekend.
Meanwhile, Connacht head coach Andy Friend has made four changes to the side that beat Leinster in Dublin last weekend.
Ultan Dillane, Finlay Bealham, and Sean O’Brien – who has been sidelined with an injury in recent weeks – all come into the XV, while Australian wing Ben O’Donnell gets his first start for the province after making his debut off the bench last weekend.
Bundee Aki has not recovered from a knee injury to feature but Paul Boyle and Dave Heffernan have returned to the matchday squad among the replacements.
Connacht also confirmed that all professional players and management returned negative results in this week’s round of PCR testing for Covid-19. They say that “a number of players who have spent the last period in self-isolation will return to training next week.”
Connacht:
15. John Porch
14. Ben O’Donnell
13. Sammy Arnold
12. Tom Daly
11. Alex Wootton
10. Jack Carty
9. Caolin Blade
1. Denis Buckley
2. Shane Delahunt
3. Finlay Bealham
4. Ultan Dillane
5. Quinn Roux (captain)
6. Sean O’Brien
7. Conor Oliver
8. Sean Masterson
Replacements:
16. Dave Heffernan
17. Matthew Burke
18. Dominic Robertson-McCoy
19. Gavin Thornbury
20. Paul Boyle
21. Kieran Marmion
22. Diarmuid Kilgallen
23. Peter Sullivan
Munster:
15. Mike Haley
14. Keith Earls
13. Chris Farrell
12. Damian de Allende
11. Shane Daly
10. JJ Hanrahan
9 Conor Murray
1. James Cronin
2. Kevin O’Byrne
3. Stephen Archer
4. Jean Kleyn
5. Tadhg Beirne
6. Gavin Coombes
7. Peter O’Mahony (captain)
8. CJ Stander
Replacements:
16. Niall Scannell
17. Josh Wycherley
18. Keynan Knox
19. Fineen Wycherley
20. Billy Holland
21. Nick McCarthy
22. Ben Healy
23 Rory Scannell
Referee: Frank Murphy [IRFU].
