The long road back to the final begins for Munster on home turf, the province hosting Benetton Rugby in Cork tonight as the revamped GUINNESS PRO14 rolls into town.
GUINNESS PRO14: Friday, September 1
MUNSTER v BENETTON RUGBY, Irish Independent Park, 7.35pm (live TG4)
Team News: Munster director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has made two changes to the team that defeated Worcester Warriors in pre-season action last week, Academy flanker Sean O’Connor coming into the back row to make his first PRO14 appearance and returning Ireland international Andrew Conway joining the back-three at full-back.
Retaining his starting place after an impressive showing in pre-season, loosehead Liam O’Connor is the second Academy player to make his first start and packs down alongside Rhys Marshall and Stephen Archer.
The addition of Sean O’Connor to the back row sees Billy Holland revert to the tight five where he is partnered by Jean Kleyn in the second row.. The South African has successfully rehabbed the neck injury that saw him miss the end of last season. Openside Tommy O’Donnell, who has come through the return-to-play protocols, and number 8 Jack O’Donoghue complete the pack.
Notching a brace of tries in Worcester, Duncan Williams continues at half-back alongside captain Tyler Bleyendaal, while Chris Farrell will make his competitive debut for the province as he partners Jaco Taute in midfield.
Wingers Alex Wootton and Darren Sweetnam join Conway in the back-three, the latter drawing ever closer to 100 PRO14 appearances. The Dubliner, who started Ireland’s two Tests against Japan in June, will play in the competition for the 98th time tonight.
Named on the bench, long term injury returnee Mike Sherry could play his first competitive game since May 2016, with James Hart and Ciaran Parker in line for PRO14 debuts. Robin Copeland has overcome a shoulder injury in timely fashion for the new season and also takes his place on the bench.
In injury news, following a scan for the ankle knock he sustained in Worcester, Gerbrandt Grobler will meet with a specialist next week, Conor Oliver undergoes shoulder surgery this week and is expected to be sidelined until the new year, while James Cronin underwent a knee scope and will be unavailable for the opening rounds of the season.
With Munster looking to lay down marker for the season ahead, supporters can start this weekend by cheering on the province under the floodlights at Irish Independent Park. Tickets – junior €;7, adult €;20 and family €;40 – can be purchased online here, or at the ground tonight.
Meanwhile, New Zealanders Marty Banks and Whetu Douglas will make their PRO14 debuts for Benetton Rugby, with Kieran Crowley’s men looking to recapture the form which saw them defeat Edinburgh, Zebre and the Ospreys towards the end of last season.
The 27-year-old Banks will be a player to watch out for at out-half, having scored the winning points when the Highlanders won the 2015 Super Rugby final. He also kicked the winning penalty for the Dunedin-based team against the British & Irish Lions this summer.
Douglas (26) made the move from the Crusaders and has previous experience of facing Munster – he was part of the Maori All Blacks side that lost 27-14 to the the men in red at Thomond Park last November. The rest of the Benetton line-up has a familiar look to it, with former Leinster player Ian McKinley marshalling a back-three that includes Angelo Esposito and Edoardo Gori.
Tommaso Benvenuti and Tommaso Allan, who top-scored for Benetton during the 2016/17 campaign with 66 points, join forces in the centre, while Banks’ half-back partner will be the wily Tito Tebaldi who is starting his second season in Treviso.
The Kiwi flavour continues with the Whangarei-born Dead Budd, who made his Italy debut during the 2017 Six Nations. He captains Benetton from the second row where he is partnered by Marco Lazzaroni. There is good size and technical ability in the front row, while Francesco Minto has two newcomers from company in the back row – number 8 Douglas and promising Italy-capped flanker Sebastian Negri, who has joined from English club Hartpury.
MUNSTER: Andrew Conway, Darren Sweetnam, Chris Farrell, Jaco Taute, Alex Wootton; Tyler Bleyendaal (capt), Duncan Williams; Liam O’Connor, Rhys Marshall, Stephen Archer, Jean Kleyn, Billy Holland, Sean O’Connor, Tommy O’Donnell, Jack O’Donoghue.
Replacements: Mike Sherry, Brian Scott, Ciaran Parker, Fineen Wycherley, Robin Copeland, James Hart, Ian Keatley, Dan Goggin.
BENETTON RUGBY: Ian McKinley; Angelo Esposito, Tommaso Benvenuti, Tommaso Allan, Edoardo Gori; Marty Banks, Tito Tebaldi; Federico Zani, Luca Bigi, Simone Ferrari, Dean Budd (capt), Marco Lazzaroni, Sebastian Negri, Whetu Douglas.
Replacements: Engjel Makelara, Cherif Traore, Marco Riccioni, Federico Ruzza, Braam Steyn, Giorgio Bronzini, Alberto Sgarbi, Andrea Buondonno.
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Gary Conway (Ireland)
Television Match Official: Neil Hennessy (Wales)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Munster to win: 1/40; Draw: 60/1; Benetton Rugby to win: 17/1
Pre-Match Quotes: Jerry Flannery (Munster) – “Everyone came back in good shape and there is an excellent work ethic here in Munster. From my point of view, I started off in Connacht for a couple of seasons but all of my formative experiences have been at Munster and sometimes you take for granted how hard the players work here.
“However, when other coaches come in to see how we do things, the first thing they say is how committed, responsible and self-driven the players are here. As a result we’re excited and looking to build on last season. We’re aware that last season’s game-plan was effective for us, but when it came to the semi-finals and finals we came up short.
“Felix (Jones), in conjunction with George Murray (our performance analyst), put a lot of work into developing our attacking game. Getting to see the fruits of that in pre-season action was really good. Every team at this stage of the season makes mistakes, but it’s how quickly you can learn and fix the mistakes on the fly is the key.
“Last year we had a very strong set piece, solid defence and were very competent aerially. Against 90% of teams those things were enough to get us over the line, but, as you saw against Saracens, where we couldn’t overpower teams, we needed to add a bit of subtlety to our game.
“It’s not about running two or three phases to tee someone up to strike, it’s about developing each player’s skill-set. We now have all of our forwards integrated where we’ve worked on their handling skills and their ability to hold depth. That means there are many more layers to our attack now.”
Kieran Crowley (Benetton Rugby) – “The boys have worked hard, we are in a better place than we were at this stage last year. Hopefully their skill levels are a bit better and we are looking forward to the start of the season.
“Everyone is in the same boat at this stage of the year, everyone works hard and thinks their squads are better but the proof of it is on the field performance. When I reflected on last year I saw improvement from the start to the finish. There was a positive there but now the challenge is to build on that and hopefully improve further this time around.
“We are the most stable we have been, the club has turned over a lot of players in the previous two years but this is probably the most stable we have been. Hopefully that stability also helps.
“(New signings Marty Banks and Nasi Manu) are big game players, we needed a little more leadership in our group. Marty certainly performed that role with the Highlanders, Nasi has had an unfortunate run with injuries but he was captain of the Highlanders with Ben Smith when they won the Super Rugby title.
“Whetu Douglas who was captain of Waikato last year, he played a bit with the Crusaders this year as well, he’s also joined. They have come in and hopefully they are ready to go soon. Their Italian is a bit slow just at the moment!
“We can’t look at positions in the table, we have made a lot of changes, so we need to get all of those working positively towards results on the field – that would be a big thing. Results on the field are what show where you at, a positive result for us would be getting more consistent home form and win some away games.
“We have got to be consistent, we ended up winning three out of our last five games last year but there are areas to work on. It is about preparing the side for the weekend, the conference system is the way to go. It’s a great system, the fans will understand it, the players are excited about it, it is something new. It has been a very positive move.”
Top Scorers – 2016/17 GUINNESS PRO12: Munster – Points: Tyler Bleyendaal 144; Tries: Ronan O’Mahony, Andrew Conway 9 each; Benetton Rugby – Points: Tommaso Allan 66; Tries: Dean Budd, Marco Fuser 4 each
RECENT LEAGUE MEETINGS:
Friday, September 12, 2014 – Benetton Rugby 10 Munster 21, Stadio di Monigo
Saturday, April 25, 2015 – Munster 30 Benetton Rugby 19, Irish Independent Park
Saturday, September 5, 2015 – Munster 18 Benetton Rugby 13, Irish Independent Park
Sunday, February 28, 2016 – Benetton Rugby 13 Munster 16, Stadio di Monigo
Saturday, November 26, 2016 – Munster 46 Benetton Rugby 3, Thomond Park
Saturday, April 29, 2017 – Benetton Rugby 14 Munster 34, Stadio di Monigo
MATCH FACTS:
– Munster topped the GUINNESS PRO12 table last season but were beaten in the final in Dublin by the
Scarlets
– Munster have lost just once on the opening weekend since 2009, and that by a single point to Edinburgh in Limerick in 2014
– Munster’s only defeat in their last 15 home games in all competitions was 30-21 to the Scarlets in Limerick in February, while the Munstermen have lost just twice in Cork since 2013, against the Ospreys and Cardiff Blues in 2016
– Benetton Rugby finished in 10th spot last season with wins in three of the last five rounds
– Benetton beat Zebre 19-3 in Parma in round 22: their first away win in the Championship since a visit to the same venue in December 2014
– The Italians have not been victorious in their round 1 fixture since beating the Ospreys in Treviso in 2012
– Munster have won their last nine clashes with Benetton in all tournaments with the Italians’s most recent victory being 29-19 in Treviso in September 2013
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