B&I Cup Comes To Old Crescent

9th December 2015 By Munster Rugby

We talk to Munster A Head Coach Mick O’Driscoll in previewing Friday night’s British & Irish Cup Round 3 encounter that sees the men in red welcome Ospreys Premiership Select to Old crescent RFC – KO 7.30pm.

An opening round defeat away to London Scottish preceded a hard fought win over Yorkshire Carnegie a week later at Kinsale RFC, and after two rounds, O’Driscoll’s charges find themselves third in the Pool 3 standings, four points adrift of pool toppers London Scottish and one place ahead of this weekend’s opposition, Ospreys Premiership Select who are competing in the competition for the first time.

Following a wide-ranging review of competition structures across the game in Wales, this year sees Ospreys, Cardiff Blues, Scarlets and Newport-Gwent Dragons represented in the B&I Cup. Each club fields a combined Regional Premiership squad team and similar to the Irish provincial ‘A’ teams, each of the Welsh sides field academy and club (Welsh premiership) players.

Looking ahead to Friday night’s encounter at Rosbrien, O’Driscoll said, “This week is a big challenge again, the Ospreys are a good side. They may have had two losses in their opening rounds but certainly their home game was very close.

“We know they are a very good team and will come with a relatively similar strength side to us. They will have a number of club players and players from the Ospreys academy involved so we’re expecting a very tough game but hopefully it will be a little more evenly matched compared to some of the English Championship sides we’ve played.

“We should have a good mix also. We will have a lot of young guys playing and it will be good for them to get some experience with the older lads, and then those senior players will need game time also so hopefully we will be able to play a good brand of rugby.

“The last day in Kinsale against Yorkshire Carnegie I thought we handled the conditions really well in securing the win on a very nasty night. In particular I thought Rory Scannell did well as regards starting at 10, he hasn’t played a huge amount of rugby in the position and it went well.

“Also then when we went down to seven men in the pack, we were able to hold out which was fairly impressive considering Yorkshire had three lineout mauls and a scrum in that period all five metres from our line. To be fair to the lads they dug in and we managed to hold out for the win.

“I think it is very important that things go well again for us on Friday night and that the lads get stuck in, starting a big weekend off for the club.”

Munster A v Ospreys Premiership Select, British & Irish Cup Round 3, Friday December 11^th at Old Crescent RFC – KO 7.30pm.

Tickets are available at the ground on the night.