Beirne Back To Lead Munster For Croke Park Clash

Munster welcome back Tadhg Beirne, the 2025 British & Irish Lions Player of the Series, as they field a much-changed selection for Saturday’s BKT United Rugby Championship derby against Leinster at Croke Park (kick-off 5.15pm).

Tickets for the first interprovincial encounter of the new campaign are available to buy here. Munster are chasing their first win over their arch rivals since beating them 16-15 in the 2023 URC semi-final at the Aviva Stadium.

Under new head coach Clayton McMillan, they have the better form coming into this weekend, as last Friday’s 20-19 bonus point victory over Edinburgh in Cork saw them make it three wins on the bounce to start the season.

There are nine changes in personnel, with talismanic captain Beirne slotting in at blindside flanker as he becomes the 36th player to feature for Munster so far in 2025/26.

In another boost for the province, Edwin Edogbo will make his first start since December 2023 after a successful return from injury as a replacement against Edinburgh.

Jack Crowley, one of four Munster players named in the Ireland squad this week, will have Ennis man Ethan Coughlan alongside him at half-back. Craig Casey is a week or two away from returning from a hamstring injury.

Shane Daly comes in at full-back, replacing Mike Haley who is following the return-to-play protocols. Andrew Smith and Thaakir Abrahams complete the back-three, with Calvin Nash nursing a shoulder injury.

Tom Farrell, Munster’s player-of-the-match in round 3, and Dan Kelly team up together in the centre. There are one enforced change in the front row where Oli Jager (HIA) makes way for John Ryan.

Also unavailable for selection for the trip to Croke Park were Tom Ahern (HIA), Niall Scannell (hand laceration), Alex Kendellen (ankle), and Conor Bartley (hamstring).

Fineen Wycherley will make his fourth successive start in the number 5 jersey, while Diarmuid Barron and Michael Milne have both contributed tries in recent weeks, the latter touching down twice against Edinburgh.

Beirne’s return sees Jack O’Donoghue shift to openside flanker, and the 21-year-old Brian Gleeson (pictured above) gets the nod at number 8 where he started the season opener away to the Scarlets.

Lee Barron, Jeremy Loughman, and Academy prop Ronan Foxe provide the forward cover, along with Jean Kleyn and Gavin Coombes. Paddy Patterson, JJ Hanrahan, and Alex Nankivell are the replacement backs.

Looking forward to his first experience of an Irish derby, New Zealander McMillan commented: “We’re fully aware of the challenge that is ahead of us and we’ve plumped for a bit of experience. It’s great to have Tadhg back in leading the team.

“We’ve rewarded people that we think have earned the opportunity to go out and play against Leinster at Croke Park, and that’s what we want when we play these types of games.

“Brian (Gleeson) had a really good outing in our first game against the Scarlets. I think he’s really forced our hand in terms of his selection. A slightly different type of athlete to Gav (Coombes).

“He certainly hasn’t got the experience, but he’s a little bit bigger and he’s got some dynamic features to his game that we think will be important this week.

“Jean Kleyn’s played big minutes for us in the first three rounds and Ed (Edogbo) came off the bench last week and he gave us the same sort of thing really, just a big body, a little bit of go-forward in the collision space.

“He was good off the ground, he had a good work-rate for the short time that he was on there, so I feel like it’s a good opportunity to get him out there and just see what he can do from the start.”

MUNSTER (v Leinster): Shane Daly; Andrew Smith, Tom Farrell, Dan Kelly, Thaakir Abrahams; Jack Crowley, Ethan Coughlan; Michael Milne, Diarmuid Barron, John Ryan, Edwin Edogbo, Fineen Wycherley, Tadhg Beirne (capt), Jack O’Donoghue, Brian Gleeson.

Replacements: Lee Barron, Jeremy Loughman, Ronan Foxe, Jean Kleyn, Gavin Coombes, Paddy Patterson, JJ Hanrahan, Alex Nankivell.