Munster have included nine Ireland internationals in their starting team to play Connacht at the Sportsground in the Guinness PRO14 on Saturday night (7.35pm, live eir sport 1).
Andrew Conway, Keith Earls, Chris Farrell, Joey Carbery, Peter O’Mahony, Tommy O’Donnell, Tadhg Beirne, John Ryan and Niall Scannell have all been included in Johann van Graan’s side while CJ Stander and Conor Murray have both been named on the bench.
Meanwhile flanker Chris Cloete was brought to hospital for assessment after a nasty collision with Tadhg Furlong and initial investigations were normal but he will undergo further assessment this week to determine the extent of his neck injury while Brian Scott (foot), James Cronin (leg) Jack O’Donoghue (knee) and Dave O’Callaghan (foot) are all progressing with their rehabilitation.
Munster have lost two of their last three matches but a win over PRO14 champions Leinster last week should give them some confidence ahead of tricky European ties with Gloucester and Exeter to come.
As for Connacht, they will be without Ireland centre Bundee Aki who has been omitted from the squad with hooker Dave Heffernan set to captain the Westerners in Galway.
📣 TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT 📣
Here is your Connacht team to face @Munsterrugby tomorrow in front of a sold out Sportsground in the #GUINNESSPRO14!
The side is captained by Dave Heffernan while Denis Buckley earns his 150th cap for the province 👏https://t.co/1mQCLXrrie pic.twitter.com/g6W2mtqIGn
— Connacht Rugby (@connachtrugby) January 4, 2019
Munster: Andrew Conway; Keith Earls, Chris Farrell, Dan Goggin, Alex Wootton; Joey Carbery, Alby Mathewson; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne; Peter O’Mahony (C), Tommy O’Donnell, Arno Botha.
Replacements: Kevin O’Byrne, Dave Kilcoyne, Stephen Archer, Billy Holland, CJ Stander, Conor Murray, Tyler Bleyendaal, Sammy Arnold.
