Heineken Debut for Hurley

Denis Hurley will make his Heineken debut tomorrow when Munster take on Gloucester at Kinsholm while Tomas O’Leary will partner Ronan O’Gara at half back

Peter Stringer and Anthony Foley are included on a strong bench that includes Frank Sheahan, Tony Buckley, Mick O?Driscoll, Paul Warwick and Kieran Lewis.

23 year old Hurley in his first season in the Heineken Cup squad fills the considerable boots of Shaun Payne following on from impressive performances against Connacht and Ulster while O’Leary makes his first Heineken start since featuring in the centre in last year’s quarter final in Stradey Park.

Commenting on the selection coach Declan Kidney said, “The statistics show that of the 44 games played to date in the quarter finals only nine have been won by the away side. So that helps to point up what we will need to do in defence and attack to get out of here (Kingsholm) with a result.
“We are fortunate to have reached this stage of the season with the squad we have and as I?ve said, our backroom staff deserve huge credit for that as do the players themselves.

“It’s never easy to leave out good players when you?re picking your starting 22 but again the selection reflects the competition there is for places. Yes, there were tough calls. Always is when you have the quality of player we have in the squad.?

Munster: D Hurley; D Howlett, R Tipoki, L Mafi, I Dowling; R O?Gara, T O?Leary; M Horan, J Flannery, J Hayes; D O?Callaghan, P O?Connell capt; A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy. Replacements: F Sheahan, T Buckley, M O?Driscoll, A Foley, P Stringer, P Warwick, K Lewis.