Munster Confirm Team For Treviso Trip
Felix Jones and James Downey will line out for Munster against Benetton Treviso in the RaboDirect PRO12 on Sunday (kick-off 3pm local time/2pm Irish time), returning to the starting line-up for the first time since the Racing Metro 92 match in mid-January.
Felix Jones had minor surgery on a knee after that Heineken Cup victory over Racing on January 20, which kept him sidelined until now.
James Downey’s last outing was also the French club and he has missed the last two games with a rib injury.
Casey Laulala has also been restored to the starting line-up for the first time since he partnered Downey in the RaboDirect PRO12 derby match against Ulster just after Christmas.
Laulala did appear off the Munster bench in the subsequent games against the Cardiff Blues, Edinburgh and Racing.
He then missed the province’s next two fixtures while back home in New Zealand, but returned to action as a second half replacement for Ivan Dineen in Llanelli last Saturday.
James Coughlan and Tommy O’Donnell return from the Ireland set-up to make the trip to Italy this weekend as does hooker Damien Varley, who was a late withdrawal from the squad to face the Scarlets due to a knee injury.
Captained again by Mike Sherry, the Munster squad will travel to Dublin this evening where they will stay overnight before catching an early flight to Venice on Saturday morning.
MUNSTER (v Benetton Treviso): Felix Jones; Denis Hurley, Casey Laulala, James Downey, Johne Murphy; Ian Keatley, Duncan Williams; Wian du Preez, Mike Sherry (capt), Stephen Archer, Ian Nagle, Billy Holland, Paddy Butler, Tommy O’Donnell, James Coughlan.
Replacements: Damien Varley, John Ryan, BJ Botha, David Foley, CJ Stander, Cathal Sheridan, JJ Hanrahan, Ivan Dineen.