Chance For Munster

August 26, 2010 12:00 am By Munster Rugby

With some of their international contingent joining up with those who had the benefit of that outing against Leicester Tigers last weekend, Munster will be looking to give themselves the perfect boost against Gloucester tomorrow evening in Musgrave Park (7pm) ahead of the Magners League opener a week later.

Although beaten 17-13 by a full strength Tigers side there were loads of encouraging signs that Tony McGahan's squad are well equipped to deal with the challenges that will be presented in this World Cup season when the they will be without their international contingent for long periods.

Some of those however will add strength to the side for the clash with a Gloucester outfit that impressed in the Liberty Stadium win last week and they will be led again tomorrow by Luke Narraway who scored a try in that 24-14 victory. Prior to that the west country club saw off the challenge of Scarlets at Kingsholm but reserved their luminaries for the Ospreys match and retain much the same squad for this trip to Cork, obviously anxious to end up with a 100% return from their pre-season games.

To that end their pack in an all-international unit with one exception, prop Pierre Capdevielle the vastly experienced former Clermont Auvergne player while Rory Lawson will pull the strings from scrum-half with former England Under 21 star, Tim Taylor, a product of the Leicester Tigers Academy, outside him at fly-half.

The Cherry and Whites have pace aplenty out wide with a back three of Olly Morgan, veteran James Simpson Daniel and former Wasp Tom Voyce while Tim Molenaar and Samoan international Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu provide the umph in midfield.

All the above will be more than familiar to Johne Murphy – who makes his debut for Munster – and his centre partner Sam Tuitupou who will have compatriot Doug Howlett alongside.

Ian Nagle gets his opportunity to stake a claim, partnering Donnacha Ryan in the second row with Alan Quinlan – just two caps shy of 200 competitive outings for Munster – packing down on the opposite flank to his fellow Clanwilliamian Tommy O'Donnell with Denis Leamy anchoring the scrum, as he did so impressively a week ago.

Munster: F Jones; D Howlett; J Murphy, S Tuitupou, I Dowling; P Warwick, P Stringer; W du Preez, D Varley, T Buckley; I Nagle, D Ryan; A Quinlan, T O'Donnell, D Leamy capt. Replacements: D Fogarty, Dave Ryan, S Archer, M O'Driscoll, N Ronan, P O'Mahony, B Holland, D Williams, D Barnes, S Deasy, S Zebo, I Dineen.

Gloucester Rugby: Olly Morgan; James Simpson-Daniel, Tim Molenaar, Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, Tom Voyce; Tim Taylor, Rory Lawson; Alasdair Dickinson, Scott Lawson, Pierre Capdevielle; Willl James, Alex Brown; Alasdair Strokosch, Andrew Hazell, Luke Narraway (capt). Replacements: Darren Dawidiuk, Yann Thomas, Rupert Harden, Dave Attwood, Brett Deacon, Jordi Pasqualin, Henry Trinder, Charlie Sharples, Matt Cox, Peter Buxton, Jonny May.

Munster Rugby v Gloucester Rugby

Sign up for our

Official Newsletter

Report +

Munster Up And Running

August 27, 2010 12:00 am By Munster Rugby

Two tries, one in each half, both the result of well worked line-outs, saw Munster get their season up and running with a 15-10 win over Gloucester at Musgrave Park.

The first try came in the 35th minute, at a stage when the visitors held a 7-3 lead, when Tommy O'Donnell took a superb line-out ball – after a fine Paul Warwick touchfind- ten metres out for the pack to rush irresistibly for the line with Wian du Preez getting the vital touchdown.

And the second came early in the second half, the Munster pack again showing their mauling prowess, for Quinlan to cap a fine personal performance with a try that was good enough to win this match. However, it did require a last gasp Felix Jones tackle to prevent Gloucester tying the game and possibly snatching a winner.

Overall it was a performance that found pleasure with coach Tony McGahan who felt his side had stepped up on their previous performance.

"We were disappointed with the outcome last week and there was a desire to improve on that. I think we achieved that objective. I think they worked very hard out there. There were some good individual performances but overall it was a good squad effort and gives us a boost going into the competitive arena next week."

Munster opened with a Warwick penalty after 13 minutes and looked threatening when he got the ball to debutant Johne Murphy and returning (from injury) duo Doug Howlett and Felix Jones.

A period of Gloucester pressure ended with a try for Tim Taylor who hacked through and followed up to score under the posts. The du Preez try converted by Warwick gave the home side a half time lead and Quinlan's extended in the 3rd minute of the second.

Taylor narrowed the gap with a 62nd minute penalty and then we had the best move of the game, replacement Scott Deasy setting Danny Barnes free who in turn off loaded to Jones whose marvellous break merited a try but ended just short.

Munster: F. Jones, D. Howlett, J. Murphy, S. Tuitupou, I. Dowling, P. Warwick, P. Stringer, W. du Preez, D. Varley, T. Buckley, I. Nagle, D. Ryan, A. Quinlan, D. Leamy (captain), T. O’Donnell.

Replacements: D. Fogarty for Varley (40), N. Ronan for O’Donnell (45), D. Williams for Stringer, M. O’Driscoll for Nagle (both 49), B. Holland for Quinlan, S. Archer for Buckley (55), S. Deasy for Tuitupou (59), S. Zebo for Howlett, D. Ryan for du Preez (both 64), P. O’Mahony for Leamy (68), I. Dinneen for P. Warwick, D. Barnes for Murphy (both 73).

Gloucester: O. Morgan, J. Simpson-Daniel, T. Molenaar, E. Fuimaona-Sapolu, T. Voyce, T. Taylor, R. Lawson, A. Dickinson, S. Lawson, P. Capdevielle, W. James, A. Brown, A. Strokosch, L. Narroway (captain), A. Hazell.

Replacements: D. Attwood for Brown (40), P. Buxton for Strokosch (45), B. Deacon for Narraway (48), D. Dawiduik for S. Lawson (52), H. Trinder for Fuimaono-Sapolu (56), J. Pasqualin for R. Lawson (57), Y. Thomas for Dickinson, R. Harden for Capdeveille (both 62), J. May for simpson Daniel, M. Cox for Hazell, C. Sharples for Morgan (all 66).

Referee: D. Wilkinson (IRFU)

P Warwick 1 Penalty; 1 Conversion

W du Preez 1 Try

A Quinlan 1 Try

T Taylor 1 Try; 1 Penalty; 1 Conversion

F. Jones, D. Howlett, J. Murphy, S. Tuitupou, I. Dowling, P. Warwick, P. Stringer, W. du Preez, D. Varley, T. Buckley, I. Nagle, D. Ryan, A. Quinlan, D. Leamy (captain), T. O’Donnell.

O. Morgan, J. Simpson-Daniel, T. Molenaar, E. Fuimaona-Sapolu, T. Voyce, T. Taylor, R. Lawson, A. Dickinson, S. Lawson, P. Capdevielle, W. James, A. Brown, A. Strokosch, L. Narroway (captain), A. Hazell.