Munster ‘A’ Focused On Beating Moseley

It is all to play for in Saturday’s Moseley v Munster ‘A’ encounter at Billesley Common (kick-off 2pm) where one side will see their British & Irish Cup involvement end.

The task for Munster ‘A’ against Moseley is to take the points and then wait and see what happens in the other pool games before they know whether or not they will be taking any further part in this season’s British & Irish Cup.

As things stand, Munster ‘A’ are in second place in Pool 2 with 9 points while Moseley are in second place in Pool 2 on eight.

So the winners of their final pool clash will immediately want to know exactly what has happened in Pool 3 where Bedford Blues, on 10 points, host Llanelli and in Pool 6 where either leaders Ulster Ravens or Nottingham could thwart the Munster ‘A’ side’s ambitions depending on how results go.

London Welsh, on 10 points in Pool 4, also come into the equation until you consider that their final match is against unbeaten Leinster ‘A’ in Dublin on Sunday.

Munster ‘A’ head coach Ian Costello said: “We’ve obviously no control of what’s happening in other places, so we’ll focus solely on what we need to do in Moseley.

“With the format of this competition, it’s hard to get an angle on opponents. You can’t compare their performance against sides we’ve both played so far.

“But we do know they’re playing week in, week out and in contention for a place in the British & Irish play-offs, at home. I think that says it all.”

Costello brings a side laced with experience and none more so than Mick O’Driscoll, who is set to become the next Munster player to reach the 200-cap mark this season.

O’Driscoll is partnered in the second row by one for the future, Ian Nagle, while their back-line can only benefit by the presence of Will Chambers who drops down from the senior squad.

JJ Hanrahan joins forces with Chambers in the centre and they have loads of pace out wide in the shape of Luke O’Dea, who scored a try recently on his debut for the senior side, and full-back Sean Scanlon.

MUNSTER ‘A’ (v Moseley): Sean Scanlon; Luke O’Dea, JJ Hanrahan, Will Chambers, Tom Gleeson; Scott Deasy, Duncan Williams; Dave Kilcoyne, Sean Henry, Christy Condon, Mick O’Driscoll, Ian Nagle, Billy Holland (capt), David O’Callaghan, Paddy Butler.

Replacements: Duncan Casey, Peter Borlase, Dave Foley, Brian O’Hara, Cathal Sheridan, Declan Cusack, Ronan O’Mahony.