Although they have played one game less than their Pool 1 rivals, Munster sit top of the table as they chase their third successive victory in this season’s Champions Cup and a December double over Leicester Tigers.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS CUP – POOL 1: Saturday, December 17
LEICESTER TIGERS (3rd) v MUNSTER (1st), Welford Road, 3.15pm (live BT Sport 2/beIN Sports/RTÉ Radio 1/highlights TG4)
Team News: Munster director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has named an unchanged team for Saturday’s Champions Cup round 4 match against Leicester Tigers at Welford Road.
There is one change on the replacements bench as loosehead prop James Cronin, who scored two tries on his return from injury for Munster ‘A’ last week, takes the place of big South African Thomas du Toit.
An outstanding team performance saw Munster inflict a heavy defeat on Leicester at Thomond Park last Saturday and, as expected, Erasmus has stuck with the same starting line-up.
CJ Stander, the man-of-the-match in Limerick, is set to make his 20th appearance in the Champions Cup having made a round-high 18 carries last time out.
Corkman Darren Sweetnam keeps his place on the right wing and has started all 13 of Munster’s games so far this season.
A daunting task awaits Munster – since the back-to-back fixtures were introduced in 1999, Leicester have never lost both games. However, Munster are the only side to beat Leicester more than once at Welford Road in Europe – in 2003 (quarter-final) and 2006 (pool match).
Meanwhile, after the four-try 38-0 defeat at Thomond Park last week, Leicester Tigers have made three changes for the rematch with Jack Roberts, Pat Cilliers and Luke Hamilton all included.
Roberts, who made his Champions Cup debut as a replacement in Limerick, comes into the team at outside centre, with Owen Williams moving to out-half to cover for the injured Freddie Burns.
Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill has selected South African international Cilliers at tighthead prop, while Hamilton joins Brendon O’Connor and Lachlan McCaffrey in the back row. There is also a return among the replacements for Mike Williams after his recovery from injury.
LEICESTER TIGERS: George Worth; Peter Betham, Jack Roberts, Manu Tuilagi, Adam Thompstone; Owen Williams, Ben Youngs; Ellis Genge, Tom Youngs (capt), Pat Cilliers, Ed Slater, Graham Kitchener, Luke Hamilton, Brendon O’Connor, Lachlan McCaffrey.
Replacements: Harry Thacker, Logovi’i Mulipola, Greg Bateman, Mike Fitzgerald, Mike Williams, Will Evans, Sam Harrison, Tom Brady.
MUNSTER: Simon Zebo; Darren Sweetnam, Jaco Taute, Rory Scannell, Keith Earls; Tyler Bleyendaal, Conor Murray; Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell, John Ryan, Donnacha Ryan, Billy Holland, Peter O’Mahony (capt), Tommy O’Donnell, CJ Stander.
Replacements: Rhys Marshall, James Cronin, Stephen Archer, Jean Kleyn, Jack O’Donoghue, Duncan Williams, Ian Keatley, Andrew Conway.
Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France)
Assistant Referees: Maxime Chalon, Jean-Luc Rebollal (both France)
Television Match Official: Eric Gauzins (France)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Munster to win: 11/8; Draw: 22/1; Leicester Tigers to win: 4/6
Pre-Match Quotes: Dave Kilcoyne (Munster) – “We are confident but we’re not falling in love with ourselves. There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance. We trained very hard this week. We feed off each other.
“Leicester are bitterly disappointed with how they played last week. They are a club steeped in tradition, especially in Europe, not too dissimilar to ourselves. They will come out with a massive edge to their performance, especially in the first 20 minutes. I’d say it will be brutal.
“I think we’re improving every week. People will say it was a good win last weekend but we’ve highlighted areas that we felt we were poor in, we’ve worked really hard, we’re training with Jacques (Nienaber) and Rassie (Erasmus) and they are highlighting things that we weren’t efficient in.
“It’s the same with Felix (Jones) and Fla (Jerry Flannery), and we work as hard as we can Monday to Wednesday to rectify them. Our kick chase probably wasn’t as good as it should have been last week, our escort (of runners), so that’s an area we’ll be looking to bring in this week.
“We’ll take confidence from how we’re playing and particularly how we played against them last weekend. But we know there are areas we can be a lot better and efficient in. We will look to improve upon those this week. We are not going over to absorb this onslaught for 20 minutes. We are going out there to win again.”
Ed Slater (Leicester Tigers) – “Munster beat us so comfortably that it was more embarrassment. We weren’t ever in the game. I think on Sunday pretty much everyone who played in the game watched it back and had a real look at what went wrong.
“Then on Monday we laid it all out on the table in a meeting, and then moved it to one side as we concentrate on the week and how we can prepare for Saturday. It’s not just about how unhappy the coaches are, it is about how unhappy the playing group are. It is not just them who are disappointed with the performance, it is everyone in the team.
“I remember during the game looking up when Tyler (Bleyendaal) had kicked that penalty to make it 12-0 and thinking, ‘Jesus, where are those 12 points coming from?’ You can’t give a side like Munster a head start because it will kill you, it will absolutely kill you.
“It was a bad, bad performance – I am not denying it – but I don’t think it is a reflection of us as a team or as a playing group. I think we are a lot better than that and I don’t think you will see it again. We still believe we can get out of the pool. You don’t just give up.”
Current Form – Leicester Tigers – (Aviva Premiership): Won 38-31 v Gloucester (away), Lost 34-22 v Wasps (home), Won 14-13 v Newcastle Falcons (away), Won 34-14 v Bath (home), Lost 34-30 v Sale Sharks (away), Won 34-13 v Worcester Warriors (home); (Champions Cup): Lost 42-13 v Glasgow Warriors (away), Won 27-17 v Racing 92 (home); (Aviva Premiership): Lost 24-10 v Saracens (away); (Anglo-Welsh Cup): Won 21-20 v Bath (away), Won 42-3 v Newport Gwent Dragons (home); (Aviva Premiership): Won 25-6 v Harlequins (home), Won 21-16 v Bristol (away), Won 19-11 v Northampton Saints (home); (Champions Cup): Lost 38-0 v Munster (home)
Munster – (GUINNESS PRO12): Won 23-13 v Scarlets (away), Lost 24-23 v Cardiff Blues (home), Won 20-16 v Newport Gwent Dragons (away), Won 28-14 v Edinburgh (home), Won 49-5 v Zebre (home), Lost 35-14 v Leinster (away); (Champions Cup): Won 38-17 v Glasgow Warriors (home); (GUINNESS PRO12): Won 15-14 v Ulster (away), Won 33-0 v Ospreys (home), Won 46-3 v Benetton Treviso (home), Won 16-15 v Glasgow Warriors (away); (Champions Cup): Won 38-0 v Leicester Tigers (home)
Top Scorers – 2016/17 European Champions Cup: Leicester Tigers – Points: Freddie Burns 16; Tries: Adam Thompstone, Brendon O’Connor, Freddie Burns 1 each; Munster – Points: Tyler Bleyendaal 34; Tries: Jaco Taute 3
Previous European Meetings: 7
Saturday, December 10, 2016 – Pool 1 – Munster 38 Leicester Tigers 0, Thomond Park
Sunday, December 20, 2015 – Pool 4 – Leicester Tigers 17 Munster 6, Welford Road
Saturday, December 12, 2015 – Pool 4 – Munster 19 Leicester Tigers 31, Thomond Park
Saturday, January 20, 2007 – Pool 4 – Munster 6 Leicester Tigers 13, Thomond Park
Sunday, October 22, 2006 – Pool 4 – Leicester Tigers 19 Munster 21, Welford Road
Sunday, April 13, 2003 – Quarter-final – Leicester Tigers 7 Munster 20, Welford Road
Saturday, May 25, 2002 – Final – Leicester Tigers 15 Munster 9, Millennium Stadium
European Cup Records:
Leicester Tigers –
2015/16: Reached the semi-finals
2014/15: Failed to qualify from Pool 3
2013/14: Reached the quarter-finals
2012/13: Reached the quarter-finals
2011/12: Failed to qualify from Pool 4
2010/11: Reached the quarter-finals
2009/10: Failed to qualify from Pool 3
2008/09: Runners-up
2007/08: Failed to qualify from Pool 6
2006/07: Runners-up
2005/06: Reached the quarter-finals
2004/05: Reached the semi-finals
2003/04: Failed to qualify from Pool 1
2002/03: Reached the quarter-finals
2001/02: Champions
2000/01: Champions
1999/00: Failed to qualify from Pool 1
1997/98: Reached the quarter-finals
1996/97: Runners-up
Munster –
2015/16: Failed to qualify from Pool 4
2014/15: Failed to qualify from Pool 1
2013/14: Reached the semi-finals
2012/13: Reached the semi-finals
2011/12: Reached the quarter-finals
2010/11: Failed to qualify from Pool 3
2009/10: Reached the semi-finals
2008/09: Reached the semi-finals
2007/08: Champions
2006/07: Reached the quarter-finals
2005/06: Champions
2004/05: Reached the quarter-finals
2003/04: Reached the semi-finals
2002/03: Reached the semi-finals
2001/02: Runners-up
2000/01: Reached the semi-finals
1999/00: Runners-up
1998/99: Reached the quarter-finals
1997/98: Failed to qualify from Pool D
1996/97: Failed to qualify from Pool D
1995/96: Failed to qualify from Pool D
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