In Pics: Zebre Preparations
22nd March 2016 By Munster Rugby
Munster welcome Zebre to Thomond Park for Round 18 of the Guinness PRO12 on Good Friday at 7pm. See our latest training shots as Munster continued preparations in UL yesterday and read the pre-match thoughts of Head Coach Anthony Foley.
CLICK HERE to see our latest Training Gallery.
Foley met with media following the session in UL and looked ahead to Friday night’s contest on home soil.
“I’ve come across Gianluca (Guidi) – Head Coach – on a number of occasions, a lovely man and a great coach. He has gone into Zebre this year and has implemented a good structure around the team. They have a very good pack and in the backs they have great internationals in the likes of Luke Burgess from Australia, Kelly Haimona the Italian out-half and of course Mils Muliaina. That gives them a lot of rugby intellect from 1 to 15. They work the ball across the pitch and play to their strengths.”
With Leinster, Connacht and Scarlets all on the horizon, Munster will face three of the top-4 sides in the coming weeks as they bid for Champions Cup and play-off qualification.
“It’s about making sure we focus on one game at a time and that makes this Friday a massive game. As a coaching and playing group we have not looked beyond that and our focus is on making sure we can execute and deliver a performance that will get us a result against a very good Italian side.”
Munster’s international representatives are returning to the province this week and a decision will be taken on their potential involvement for Zebre in the coming days.
“All six players that were involved at the weekend – against Scotland – will be back in situ by Wednesday so we just need to assess them and see where they are both mentally and physically after their exploits in the last number of weeks. Most importantly we need to do the right thing by them.”
Munster v Zebre, Guinness PRO12 Round 18, Good Friday, March 25th at Thomond Park – KO 7pm.
Ticket from €;15 and €;30 for families can be purchased online here, from the Munster Rugby Ticket Offices at Irish Independent Park and Thomond Park, or by calling 0818 719 300.
Fanzone and Bars open from 5pm.
