Casey Fit For Munster’s Crunch Clash With Castres

Captain Tadhg Beirne will lead Munster on the occasion on his 100th cap, as they aim for a winning finish to the Investec Champions Cup pool phase against Castres Olympique at Thomond Park on Saturday (kick-off 5.30pm). Tickets are available here.

Last week’s agonising 27-25 defeat in Toulon left Clayton McMillan’s men in fourth place in Pool 2, level on six points with Gloucester below them, and just a point separating them from Castres at the foot of the table.

Munster’s destiny remains in their own hands in terms of qualifying for the round of 16, while the tightness of the pool means that they could still finish as high as second if they can register a bonus point win, and other results go their way.

Thaakir Abrahams, Niall Scannell, and Jean Kleyn, who is joining Gloucester in the summer, come in as the three changes to the team that narrowly lost in the south of France in round 3.

Craig Casey has recovered from a shoulder injury to feature at half-back alongside Jack Crowley, while 21-year-old Academy back Ben O’Connor continues on the left wing, combining with Abrahams and Shane Daly in the back-three.

Tom Farrell, the scorer of the province’s third try last Sunday, pairs up again with Alex Nankivell in the centre. Scannell replaces the injured Diarmuid Barron (knee) at hooker, packing down with Jeremy Loughman and Michael Ala’alatoa either side of him.

Like Barron, Calvin Nash (shoulder/head) and Paddy Patterson (head) have joined an injury list that also includes Alex Kendellen (ankle), John Hodnett (thumb), Tom Ahern (neck), and Seán O’Brien (shoulder).

Munster’s engine room is occupied by Kleyn and Fineen Wycherley, who is set for his 10th start of the season. Beirne, the province’s latest centurion, makes up an unchanged back row with Jack O’Donoghue and Gavin Coombes.

Lee Barron, Michael Milne, and Oli Jager provide the front row back-up, with Jager, who has returned from a head injury, included in a matchday squad for the first time since October.

Edwin Edogbo and Brian Gleeson complete the forward cover, and Ethan Coughlan, JJ Hanrahan, and Dan Kelly, a try scorer against Gloucester in round 2, are the back-line replacements.

Speaking ahead of the must-win game in Limerick, head coach McMillan said: “There’s a really healthy rivalry (with Castres). Again, it’s something that we talked about during the week. Out of all of those 20-odd games against them in Europe, there’s never been an easy one.

“In actual fact, both teams have the ability to drag each other into a real war, and that is exactly what we’re expecting tomorrow evening from them.

“You know, with French teams, they’ve got a powerful set-piece, a lot of flair, and given this is effectively a one-off game to push your way through to the next level of Champions Cup, I imagine they’ll be like us, wanting to throw everything at it.”

He added: “Yes, look, it didn’t look great (for Craig) after last week’s game. He had his arm in sling, it was obviously quite a bit of pain, but all the tests that he’s done have indicated that it’s not a huge amount of damage there.

“It’s just going to be a little bit sore and something that he’ll tolerate and won’t impact on his ability to play. It’s huge for us.

“Every team probably has three or four players that are the heartbeat of the team, both on and off the field. They have a lot of value through their leadership, their ability to make other people look and feel good. Craig is definitely one of those players for us.”

MUNSTER (v Castres Olympique): Shane Daly; Thaakir Abrahams, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Ben O’Connor; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Michael Ala’alatoa, Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley, Tadhg Beirne (capt), Jack O’Donoghue, Gavin Coombes.

Replacements: Lee Barron, Michael Milne, Oli Jager, Edwin Edogbo, Brian Gleeson, Ethan Coughlan, JJ Hanrahan, Dan Kelly.