McGahan Retains Conquerors Of Sale
Munster coach Tony McGahan has kept faith with the players who were on duty for last weekend’s win over Sale Sharks, naming an unchanged 22-man squad for the province’s final Pool 1 game against Montauban at the Stade de Saipac on Saturday (kick-off 3.35pm Irish time/4.35pm local time).
The Munster management, who oversaw training at Thomond Park today, will announce the team and replacements on Friday afternoon.
Last weekend’s six-try 37-14 dismissal of Sale saw Munster tighten their grip on Pool 1 and secure quarter-final qualification.
A bonus point win over Montauban this weekend would ensure a coveted home draw for them in the tournament’s last-eight. They could also gain home advantage in the next round if they beat Montauban without scoring four tries and Leicester beat the Ospreys or Bath beat Toulouse.
Looking forward to the trip to Montauban, Munster captain Paul O’Connell said: “This will be another massive game for us. Montauban are a really good side, Sale have seen that and we saw it in our first pool match against them.
“They have some fabulous players so we’re expecting a tough encounter. We have to go away from home and produce another performance and we need a big one against Montauban.
“It’s three big high pressure weeks in-a-row for us, it’s going to be tough but we have to make sure we go and get the result we need.”
MUNSTER Squad (v Montauban): Backs (10) – Denis Hurley, Paul Warwick, Doug Howlett, Barry Murphy, Keith Earls, Lifeimi Mafi, Ian Dowling, Ronan O’Gara, Peter Stringer, Tomas O’Leary.
Forwards (12) – Marcus Horan, Denis Fogarty, Federico Pucciariello, Jerry Flannery, John Hayes, Donncha O’Callaghan, Donnacha Ryan, Paul O’Connell, Alan Quinlan, Niall Ronan, David Wallace, Denis Leamy.