All You Need To Know | Munster v Edinburgh

29th November 2018 By The Editor

Conor Murray made his return to action off the bench last weekend.

Munster host Edinburgh at Irish Independent Park on Friday night looking to continue their impressive form that has seen the province win four on the bounce in the PRO14 and Champions Cup.

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Two fine bonus-point wins away to Cheetahs in South Africa and Zebre in Italy have seen Munster stay within reach of Conference A leaders Glasgow and maintain second spot ahead of Connacht.

Last Sunday’s win in Parma was secured with tries from Fineen Wycherley, Man of the Match Kevin O’Byrne, Ronan O’Mahony and Rory Scannell with Bill Johnston kicking seven and Scannell five points off the tee.

For their part, Edinburgh will be looking to get back to winning ways after last week’s loss away to Dragons. Richard Cockerill’s men have won four from four at home this season and will be looking to replicate that excellent home form on the road having beaten Munster at Murrayfield last season.

The last time Munster and Edinburgh faced off was in the PRO14 semi-final qualifier at Thomond Park in May with Munster securing a narrow 20-16 victory.

Team Line-Ups

Munster: Mike Haley; Andrew Conway, Chris Farrell, Rory Scannell, Keith Earls; JJ Hanrahan, Conor Murray; Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell, John Ryan; Tadhg Beirne, Billy Holland; Peter O’Mahony (C), Chris Cloete, Arno Botha.

Replacements: Kevin O’Byrne, Jeremy Loughman, Ciaran Parker, Fineen Wycherley, Gavin Coombes, Duncan Williams, Tyler Bleyendaal, Sammy Arnold.

Edinburgh: Dougie Fife; Tom Brown, George Taylor, Juan Pablo Socino, Duhan van der Merwe; Jaco van der Walt, Nathan Fowles; Rory Sutherland, David Cherry, Murray McCallum; James Hodgson, Callum Hunter-Hill; Ally Miller, Lewis Wynne, Luke Hamilton (C).

Replacements: Ross Ford, Darryl Marfo, Pietro Ceccarelli, Callum Atkinson, Senitiki Nayalo, Sean Kennedy, Jason Baggott, Chris Dean.

A Word From The Head Coach

Ahead of Friday night’s clash, Munster Head Coach Johann van Graan said: “We were really happy to come through that game against Zebre with a bonus point – the fact that Chris Farrell, Conor Murray, Jaco Taute, and Conor Oliver – all came through that game without reinjuring themselves, and all feeling good. That was brilliant for the squad.

“We have a pretty important block of games coming up. Edinburgh are a very good side, and they play in a very specific way. As we saw in the quarter-final last year they put you under quite a bit of pressure. Edinburgh are a tricky team, they box kick so well. They have a very specific plan and they’ve got some very good broken field runners. I think they are a team that never gives up so it’s going to be a tough battle. We have a short turnaround from last Sunday to this Friday, so we will prepare the best we can.

“It’s great to have a lot of backs available at this stage. It’s the first time in a year that we’ve got more than three centres available. Dan Goggin is obviously still to come back, but great to have Jaco, Farrell, Rory and Sammy, and the young guys pushing in behind – Shane Daly, Matt More and Alex McHenry. It’s great to have depth in the squad. We’ll just take it week by week and adjust the team sheets accordingly.”