Top plays bottom in Conference A of the GUINNESS PRO14 with Munster hot favourites to emerge victorious against the Toyota Cheetahs and maintain their winning start to the new season.
GUINNESS PRO14: Saturday, September 9
MUNSTER (1st, Con A) v TOYOTA CHEETAHS (7th, Con A), Thomond Park, 5.15pm (live TG4/SuperSport 1)
Team News: Munster director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has made just one change to the team that defeated Benetton Rugby for Saturday’s GUINNESS PRO14 encounter with the Toyota Cheetahs at Thomond Park
That change sees Ian Keatley come in for Tyler Bleyendaal at out-half with second row Billy Holland taking over as captain this weekend. Following strong showings in round 1, the Greencore Munster Academy duo of loosehead prop Liam O’Connor and blindside flanker Sean O’Connor retain their starting positions.
In naming a strong bench, Erasmus includes no less than five returning Ireland internationals with Niall Scannell, Dave Kilcoyne, John Ryan, Rory Scannell and Simon Zebo all likely to see their first action of the new season.
Full-back Andrew Conway, who was a try-scoring man-of-the-match against Benetton Rugby, will make his 100th GUINNESS PRO14 appearance on Saturday evening, as will Kilcoyne should he appear off the bench.
Erasmus has close ties with the Cheetahs franchise and their coaching personnel, led by head coach Rory Duncan. He started his playing career with Free State in 1996, coached the Cheetahs to Currie Cup glory in 2005 and was their first Super Rugby coach the following year.
The former Springbok said: “They play a very high risk, high reward game and they won’t change. That is why their name is the Cheetahs. I remember when we had to get a name when we went from Currie Cup rugby to Super Rugby. Everyone just said ‘Cheetahs’ because they run and they run very fast. That is how they got their name, so they will never change that and it’s exciting.
“Even against Ulster, if two or three of those tries stick for them, it could have been 42-41, that is the way they play rugby. That is what we will face on Saturday.
“They will settle in and get better and better. This week they will be much better, getting accustomed to the referee interpretations, getting used to playing in rainy weather and so on. The small things when you are away, lineouts here get called in a huddle that doesn’t happen in the southern Hemisphere.
“There are a lot of small things that are different that really doesn’t change your game but they sometimes surprise you. I think they will fix most of those things from game one for this game, game two. With every match they will just get better.”
Munster v Cheetahs tickets will be available from the ticket office in Thomond Park on matchday from 9am, and are also available to buy online on Ticketmaster.ie. Ticket prices from adults €;20, families €;40 and juniors €;7.
Meanwhile, Springbok centre Francois Venter has returned from national camp and will captain the Toyota Cheetahs in Limerick, taking the reins from back rower Niell Jordaan. William Small-Smith moves to inside centre and Ali Mgijima will be providing cover on the bench.
Rosco Specman, who started out wide in the 42-19 defeat to Ulster, failed a fitness test on Thursday and was ruled out due to injury. Sergeal Petersen moves from full-back to the right wing, with Clayton Blommetjies now donning the number 15 jersey and Robbie Petzer coming in at out-half.
Rynier Bernardo, who played for the Ospreys and the Scarlets from 2014 up to last season, replaces Justin Basson in the second row, while Armandt Koster is called up for bench duty.
Cheetahs head coach Rory Duncan said: “The guys have had a good training week. We’ve spent a fair amount of time preparing ourselves especially in defence and breakdown. With the anticipation of relatively wet conditions, one or two areas of the game have been adapted to suit the weather circumstances.”
MUNSTER: Andrew Conway; Darren Sweetnam, Chris Farrell, Jaco Taute, Alex Wootton; Ian Keatley, Duncan Williams; Liam O’Connor, Rhys Marshall, Stephen Archer, Jean Kleyn, Billy Holland (capt), Sean O’Connor, Tommy O’Donnell, Jack O’Donoghue.
Replacements: Niall Scannell, Dave Kilcoyne, John Ryan, Fineen Wycherley, Robin Copeland, James Hart, Rory Scannell, Simon Zebo.
TOYOTA CHEETAHS: Clayton Blommetjies; Sergeal Petersen, Francois Venter (capt), William Small-Smith, Makazole Mapimpi; Robbie Petzer, Shaun Venter; Charles Marais, Jacques du Toit, Johan Coetzee, Rynier Bernardo, Reniel Hugo, Paul Schoeman, Henco Venter, Niell Jordaan.
Replacements: Torsten van Jaarsveld, Ox Nche, Tom Botha, Armandt Koster, Gerhard Olivier, Tian Meyer, Ali Mgijima, Ryno Benjamin.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Wayne Davies (Wales), Mark Patton (Ireland)
Television Match Official: Jon Mason (Wales)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Munster to win: 1/18; Draw: 40/1; Toyota Cheetahs to win: 9/1
Pre-Match Quotes: Chris Farrell (Munster) – “I can’t wait to play in Thomond Park. Playing in front of that wonderful crowd in Cork last weekend was exciting and this will be the same again, if not more. I played a pre-season friendly there a couple of seasons ago for Grenoble. Granted, that was a much smaller game and crowd, but I’ve seen enough of Munster, especially last season, to know what to expect with regards to the atmosphere in Thomond Park.
“As for the Cheetahs, they will be the first South African club team that I have played against but we have been doing analysis on them and I watched them again this morning – we know there is an unpredictability about them and they have individuals who can spark things from anywhere.
“That presents both challenge and opportunity – if we can right a few of the wrongs from last weekend’s second half performance and make the most of turnovers and counter attack, then maybe we can exploit their unpredictability.
“It’s certainly different (to playing in France). The days are a lot longer here and the intensity is really up there. But that’s what I expected and it’s what I wanted when making the decision to come here. The facilities are top class, you really look forward to coming in and that’s the best thing you can say about any job.
“From food to recovery, it’s all fantastic and that’s definitely helped over pre-season. I guess the French weather is one of the things I miss the most, but apart from that I don’t really miss having to listen so intently to conversations to know what’s being said – communication is so much easier now!”
Billy Holland (Munster) – “we are expecting quite the test from Cheetahs in their first trip to Thomond Park. I watched their game against Ulster and they are a very exciting side – they scored three tries and could have scored another couple.
“They look like they have a philosophy that whatever you score, they’ll look to score more tries than you, so it’s good to for the competition to see a side with that ethos coming into the league. On the other hand, they clearly put a huge amount of work into their lineout. They are one of the best lineout defensive sides that I’ve seen in quite a while. They put a lot of effort on contesting, trying to disrupt and steal your ball, and they are very good at it.
“We’re lucky to have Jacques (Nienaber) and Rassie to identify their strengths but the Cheetahs must spend hours on end on their homework. They caused Ulster problems on their ball, and it was the same for their Currie Cup games. They often steal more balls than the opposition wins on their own lineout. It will be a tough weekend in that regard.
“But I think, in general, it’s going to be a great night for the crowd. I’m sure the Thomond Park supporters are excited about seeing a new team here as it’s a first for a South African club side to play here. They have a big South African pack, but they run everything. They have four South African Sevens players in their back-line and that says it all.
“Considering they are such an exciting team, it will be a real challenge for us. For supporters, it will be a good day out but for us we are hoping to limit that excitement. We know they have nothing to lose here. They’re touring here for the first time ever and gave Ulster a good run for their money, so facing into a couple of home games, they’d love a win here. It will be a real battle.”
Top Scorers – 2017/18 GUINNESS PRO14: Munster – Points: Jean Kleyn 10; Tries: Jean Kleyn 2; Toyota Cheetahs – Points: Makazole Mapimpi, Sergeal Petersen, Clayton Blommetjies 5 each; Tries: Makazole Mapimpi, Sergeal Petersen, Clayton Blommetjies 1 each
2017/18 TEAM FORM: Munster – Played 1, Won 1, 5 Points; W 34-3 v Benetton Rugby (home); Toyota Cheetahs – Played 1, Lost 1, 0 Points; L 42-19 v Ulster (away)
PREVIOUS MEETINGS:
N/A
MATCH FACTS:
– Munster have lost just once in the regular season of the GUINNESS PRO14 since round 6 last year: 21-13 to the Scarlets (the eventual champions) in Limerick in February
– The Munstermen have lost only once at home in any competition since Cardiff Blues won 24-23 in Cork exactly 12 months ago
– The Toyota Cheetahs remain in Ireland following their 42-19 reversal to Ulster in Belfast last weekend
– The Cheetahs have not lost successive games since they visited New Zealand in Super Rugby in May
– The two teams have never met before
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