Munster Rugby will be driven to deliver a massive response after last week's shock setback in Italy but Ospreys will be tough opponents in difficult weather conditions
Munster Rugby will be driven to deliver a massive response after last week's shock setback in Italy but Ospreys will be tough opponents in difficult weather conditionsAfter last week's shock loss at Zebre, Munster want to make a statement in very wet conditions in Cork against the Ospreys.
But Ospreys are a tricky side to play against, especially in the wet and windy conditions on Leeside as the city endures an orange weather warning this evening. Munster prepared really well for these conditions and it has showed as they have boxed clever throughout, using a really impressive kicking game to win the territory battle. They have been efficient in their defending and clinical in their attack.
Scannell's throw finds Jack O'Donoghue and the Munster pack are in full control as Scannell does well to find summer signing Farrell, who dives over.Scrum penalty win for Munster and Jack Crowley kicks to the corner. The Reds want a second try here off lineout ball.Blow for Munster as their talisman limps off with a left leg or ankle issue. Gavin Coombes, who scored two tries last week, is on after 23 minutes.
Later, in Treviso, a strong Leinster outfit raced into a 28-0 half-time lead against a dispirited Benetton outfit, with Ciarán Frawley marking his selection at No.10 with an outstanding try. Tadhg Beirne on becoming Munster's captain - when once he could only joke about taking on such a role The captain's call has come late enough. Beirne recalls when he first skippered Munster under Johann van Graan, how nervous he felt before realising that sometimes it's just an extra "tag" on the name.
Beirne points to O'Mahony still playing a major role as part of a leadership group that also includes Jack Crowley and Diarmuid Barron, how the former skipper takes a lot of the weight off him. "I've a bit of a different approach. I won't do as much talking, a lot of the other lads will be doing that and I'll speak when I feel the need to speak.
The Corkman will have let his feelings be known after that 42-33 loss in Parma. Like O'Mahony and Crowley, Beirne makes his season debut this week. Did the Kildare man feel the need to say anything extra, given his new status? "It might be another kick up the ass if we haven't trained well but we've spoken about that standard and us being underneath that. So if we don't start reaching that soon I can imagine those meetings won't be as nice."
"You're going to have bad weeks and I can guarantee you there'll be another bad week during the year and we'll be like, 'Jesus, we need a kick up our ass', and that's just part of rugby."Fresh from their shock defeat at Zebre last weekend, Munster had made eight changes for the visit of Ospreys. Bryan Fitzgerald makes his first start for the Reds after making a good impact off the bench last week, while 21-year-old academy winger Shay McCarthy, Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell and Jack O’Donoghue also come into the starting side.
There's an orange weather warning on Leeside but the worst of the conditions will hopefully pass through before kick-off. Either way, Crowley has to hit the ground running to direct Munster's on-field production. For Munster's defence coach Denis Leamy, there's a real resemblance in Crowley's development to the path taken by Johnny Sexton as he came through to establish himself as Leinster and Ireland's top out-half.
“Jack is in that sort of bracket where he can keep layering and layering and layering. Time will tell how good he can be.”
URC Graham Rowntree Peter O'mahony Tadhg Beirne Jack Crowley
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