Johann Van Graan’s team looks vastly different to what would have been expected of them before they got stuck in South Africa.

On top of this, it will be Munster’s first 80 minutes of competitive rugby since their defeat to Ospreys on October 23.

The Stags will face the Wasps, who have played four games since October ended but are yet to find a win.

Lee Blackett’s side only have three wins to their name after nine games but are seen as a bigger obstacle to overcome due to Munster’s situation.

Wasps reached the Gallagher Premiership final just two seasons ago, losing by only three points to Exeter Chiefs, who won a league and European double that year.

However, they have failed to reach the heights that they did in the time since then and their measly 23 carries per line break average this season does not exactly scream attacking intent.

Their defence has not been impressive either – in 2019-20, they conceded an average of 22.59 points per game in the regular season in the Premiership but this year, the number sits at 26.55 after just nine games, showing a decrease in performance.

However, 18 players are listed as unavailable for Wasps through injury this weekend, and one can expect them to improve when that number goes down but it appears this Munster side may play Wasps at a perfect time.

Munster, on the other hand, can be analysed for days but their team for Sunday’s 3:15 pm match is an unknown entity.

Five players have been handed their Munster debuts, including Ireland U20 number eight Daniel Okeke.

The team is a mix of youth, experience and players yet to get solid game time under their belts.

Teams

Wasps

15 Marcus Watson (59)

14 Zach Kibirige (56)

13 Michael Le Bourgeois (65)

12 Jimmy Gopperth (136)

11 Josh Bassett (158)

10 Jacob Umaga (58)

9 Sam Wolstenholme (22)

1 Tom West (57)

2 Dan Frost (5)

3 Biyi Alo (22)

4 Sebastian de Chaves (5)

5 Elliott Stooke (9)

6 Alfie Barbeary (16)

7 Brad Shields (61) (c)

8 Tom Willis (49)

Replacements

16 Gabriel Oghre (53)

17 Robin Hislop (9)

18 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen (53)

19 Tim Cardall (37)

20 Nizaam Carr (63)

21 Thomas Young (147)

22 Will Porter (37)

23 Francois Hougaard (4)

Munster

(15-9, 1-8) Patrick Campbell; Andrew Conway, Chris Farrell, Damian de Allende, Keith Earls; Joey Carbery, Conor Murray; Dave Kilcoyne, Scott Buckley, James French; Eoin O’Connor, Tadhg Beirne; Peter O’Mahony (C), John Hodnett, Daniel Okeke.

Replacements: Declan Moore, Mark Donnelly, Roman Salanoa, John Forde, Conor Moloney, Ethan Coughlan, Tony Butler, Jonathan Wren.

Odds

Wasps 1/5

Draw 25/1

Munster 7/2

Where To Watch

The match will be available to watch on BT Sport 2 and beIN Sports with coverage starting at 3 pm.

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Salanoa has only played seven times for The Stags since joining the side from Leinster last summer, with his last appearance coming against Zebre in the Pro14 Rainbow Cup in June.

His knee injury has kept him sidelined for several months but the 24-year-old is now in line to return to the Munster 23 this weekend and is set to make his Champions Cup debut.

Chris Farrell and Jonathan Wren have also returned to training, as confirmed on Friday.

Ireland Sevens player Conor Phillips returns to the High Performance Centre this week after representing the nation in Dubai at the weekend.

The 14 members of the travelling party to South Africa who remained in Cape Town are continuing to do well as they move closer to completing their respective quarantine periods at different stages this week.

The 34 players and staff who returned home to Ireland last Wednesday are continuing to follow the government protocols of mandatory self-isolation while following the public health-led PCR testing programme.

It is expected the group will complete their quarantine period over the weekend.

Unavailable: Paddy Kelly (hamstring), Edwin Edogbo (achilles), John Hodnett (ankle), Calvin Nash (ankle), Rowan Osborne (head), RG Snyman (knee).

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The teams are hoping to leave South Africa today after United Rugby Championship’s South African games for rounds six and seven were postponed.

The four South African sides in the competition have yet to play a home game in their new competition and the upcoming rounds of rugby were set to correct that.

Leinster are not due to travel to South Africa until later this season and instead have two interprovincial clashes to look forward to against Ulster and Connacht.

However, Head Coach Cullen acknowledged the situation in Friday’s pre-match press conference.

“It’s not great news, our thoughts are with the people trying to get themselves out of there, hopefully, that’ll all play out over the next couple of days,” Cullen said.

“Presumably there’ll be some sort of plan put in place to reschedule the games, at least there are plenty of free weekends during the Six Nations from a logistics point of view, so we’ll see how it plays out.”

Most teams in the competition currently face a 10-week-long stretch of games before the next international break.

Cullen said that he has not been made aware of any contingency plans in place regarding situations such as these, other than the previous talk of the South African ‘home’ games being held in Italy.

The URC organisers now face a scheduling headache as they scramble to fit the postponed fixtures into the season.

“There are bigger concerns than rugby matches I’m sure. We’ll see how it plays out but from our point of view we’re playing two interprovincial derbies in the next two weekends and then we’re into Europe so nothing changes drastically from our point of view.”

The post Leo Cullen says there are bigger concerns than rugby after SA Covid news appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

Henshaw will be re-integrated as part of his ongoing rehab programme under the direction of the Ireland medical team.

However, Munster back-rower Gavin Coombes will not train with the side this week as he continues to recover from illness.

There were no injury concerns emerging from the 60-5 victory over Japan on Saturday afternoon.

The game against New Zealand on Saturday, November 13, which is a sell-out, will be televised by RTE and Channel 4.

Ireland squad for Autumn Nations Series

Backs (19)
Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 32 caps
Robert Baloucoune (Ulster/Enniskillen) 1 cap
Harry Byrne (Leinster/Lansdowne) 1 cap
Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf) 25 caps
Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon) 3 caps
Andrew Conway (Munster/Garryowen) 26 caps
Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster) 94 caps
Ciaran Frawley (Leinster/UCD)*
Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster) 11 caps
Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers) 52 caps
James Hume (Ulster/Banbridge) 1 cap
Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 14 caps
Jordan Larmour (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 30 caps
James Lowe (Leinster) 7 caps
Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor) 6 caps
Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 90 caps
Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 35 caps
Johnny Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 100 caps CAPTAIN
Simon Zebo (Munster/Cork Constitution) 35 caps

Forwards (19)
Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University) 5 caps
Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers) 17 caps
Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne) 23 caps
Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 21 caps
Ultan Dillane (Connacht/Corinthians) 19 caps
Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 10 caps
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf) 50 caps
Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 110 caps
Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 64 caps
Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 22 caps
Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 14 caps
Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 45 caps
Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 77 caps
Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 1 cap
Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 38 caps
James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 38 caps
Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne) 1 cap
Nick Timoney (Ulster/Banbridge) 1 cap
Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 33 caps

*denotes uncapped player 

Ireland Autumn Nations Series Fixtures 2021

IRELAND v New Zealand
Aviva Stadium, Saturday 13^th November 2021

IRELAND v Argentina
Aviva Stadium, Sunday 21^st November 2021

The post Henshaw returns to Ireland training but Coombes ruled out appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

Moran retires with two Munster titles, two National Hurling League titles and two All-Stars to his name.

The midfielder also represented his county in three All-Ireland finals in 2008, 2017 and 2020 against Kilkenny, Galway and Limerick respectively.

Moran captained the county to victory in the 2015 NHL and was also their leader when they made the run to the All-Ireland final in 2017, picking up his second All-Star that year from his sixth nomination in seven years.

He made 143 appearances for the county in the league and the championship – only Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh and Tony Browne have made more for Waterford.

His first for the side came in the 2006 NHL against Wexford under Justin McCarthy and he made his debut in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship later that year in the qualifiers.

His final appearance for the side was a loss to John Kiely’s Limerick machine under Liam Cahill, his sixth manager at Waterford.

His peak came under Derek McGrath in a midfield duo with Jamie Barron – he played in 56 of McGrath’s 58 league and championship games as manager of the Crystal County.

In a statement announcing his retirement, the De La Salle clubman said: “After 16 years, I have decided that the time is right for me to step away from inter-county hurling and to concentrate on putting more time into my club DLS.

“I would like to thank everyone that has been involved with all the Waterford senior hurling teams during my time on county panels.

“In particular, I would like to thank the Waterford fans, my club DLS, family, friends and my wife Aoife for being so supportive through all the good and bad days.

“I would really like to wish all the very best to Liam Cahill and all the Waterford backroom and panel for the next year.

“Up the Déise.”

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James Coughlan, who only joined the French team as defense coach last summer, will now have to prepare Toulon for the weekend. They have a crucial Top 14 clash against fellow strugglers Biarritz this Saturday afternoon.

Toulon has spent a lot of money to ensure success this summer. They recently signed World Cup winner Cheslin Kolbe but still have endured a wretched start to the season, with five defeats from eight games, which ultimately cost the former boss, Collazo, his job.

We would like to wish James Coughlan @corkmaninfrance a happy 40th today. We did an article on James in the Dolphin December Newsletter yesterday. If you did not get it and wish to get the newsletters email pro@dolphinrfc.com pic.twitter.com/66oLBNoibs

— DolphinRFC (@DolphinRFC) December 9, 2020

Coughlan played 137 games for Munster before finishing his career in Pau. The former forward has since been working his way through the ranks of French club rugby.

The 40-year-old began his coaching career with the Pau Academy before he joined Aix as forward’s coach. That job subsequently led to a move to Brive, before Toulon secured his services last summer.

Coughlan is not the only Irishman to be a part of the Toulon squad. Former Connacht and Ireland lock Quinn Roux is part of the team. He will be hoping to help the side now languishing second from the bottom of the Top 14 table.

Ex-Clermont boss Franck Azema is expected to be appointed as Toulon’s new head coach at a press conference on Friday.

Cheslin arrived in Toulon! #rugby #rugbypunk pic.twitter.com/Bf9gwtTcgn

— Rugby Punk! (@RugbyPunk1823) October 17, 2021

Toulon’s next match will be at home to Biarritz at 14:00 on Saturday, 30th October.

To read more in-depth and up-to-date Irish provincial and international club rugby news, click here.

The post Ex-Munster’s James Coughlan takes charge of Toulon appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

Ospreys v Munster will kick off at 19:35 on Saturday 23rd October in the Swansea.com Stadium in Wales. Referee Hollie Davidson will take charge of the match while Mike Adamson will be on TMO.

This match will also be shown live on RTE 2, Premier Sports, URC TV, and S4C.

Munster will head to Wales with their tails up after a late 20-18 win over Connacht maintained their 100 percent winning start to the season.

Beaten finalists last term, Munster has triumphed in their last 11 matches against the Ospreys in all competitions since a defeat in Cork in February 2016.

The Stags will also be boosted by the long-awaited return of some of their international players, Conor Murray and Damien De Allende.

The Ospreys survived a Benetton fightback to claim a third victory in four matches but have won only twice in eight meetings against Irish provinces.

They have also beaten an Irish opponent just once at this stadium since April 2018 while Munster has prevailed on their last five visits.

What a moment for @Munsterrugby!

Diarmuid Barron gives his side the bragging rights and keeps their unbeaten streak going with this late try #URC | #MUNCON pic.twitter.com/XRUkN0hXws

— United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) October 16, 2021

Ospreys v Munster Starting Teams

Ospreys

Max Nagy; Alex Cuthbert, Owen Watkin, Keiran Williams, Mat Protheroe; Stephen Myler, Rhys Webb (C); Nicky Smith, Elvis Taione, Tom Botha, Bradley Davies, Rhys Davies, Sam Cross, Jac Morgan, Ethan Roots.

Replacements

Ifan Phillips, Gareth Thomas, Rhys Henry, Jack Regan, Morgan Morris, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Joe Hawkins, Dan Evans.

Injuries / Suspensions

N/A

Munster

Matt Gallagher; Andrew Conway, Liam Coombes, Dan Goggin, Shane Daly; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Tadhg Beirne, Peter O’Mahony (C), Jack O’Donoghue.

Replacements

Kevin O’Byrne, Josh Wycherley, Keynan Knox, Gavin Coombes, John Hodnett, Conor Murray, Ben Healy, Damian de Allende.

Injuries / Suspensions

RG Snyman, Jason Jenkins, James French, Chris Farrell, Roman Salanoa

On this day in 2017, @Munsterrugby edged a tight second round match to claim a win at Thomond Park

How far can they go in this years #HeinekenChampionsCup ? pic.twitter.com/rj73E0mEZ5

— Heineken Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) October 21, 2021

Ospreys v Munster Betting

Outright Betting

Ospreys: 7/2

Draw: 25/1

Munster: 1/6

Handicap Betting:

Ospreys (+12): 10/11

Draw (+12): 22/1

Munster (-12): 10/11

Score Prediction

Munster are again the clear favorites for another URC match. They will be on high alert after complacency nearly lead to them losing last week. The Irish provincial side will push on once more this week especially with the return of some of their stars.

Expect Munster to win by 9 points with a victory bonus point secured.

To read more in-depth and up-to-date provincial and Irish rugby news, click here.

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The All-Ireland U20 winning boss was confirmed as the recommendation of the county’s selection committee.

Ricken will replace Kieran McCarthy in the role after he departed following a second successive Munster final defeat.

According to the Irish Examiner, Ricken beat out up to six other men who had put their names forward for the role after entering late into the race.

The St Vincent’s clubman will be joined by five selectors with a coach to be announced in the near future.

Micheál Ó Cróinín (Naomh Abán), Ray Keane (MTU / St. Finbarr’s), James Loughrey (St. Brigid’s / Mallow), Barry Corkery (Éire Óg) and Des Cullinane (St. Nicholas) will make up most of Ricken’s backroom.

Ricken most recently managed the Cork U20 footballers where he won the Munster title twice and achieved All-Ireland success alongside a provincial crown in 2019.

Several members of his 2019 All-Ireland winning team have already graduated to the senior set-up, including All-Star nominee Sean Meehan and Brian Hartnett.

He will have the chance to bring through members of the Munster U20 title-winning side in his two years in charge of the Rebel County’s senior footballers.

Ricken has also won the Premier Intermediate Championship in Cork twice as manager of St Vincent’s and won CIT their only Sigerson Cup to date in 2009.

A statement by Cork GAA reads: “The County Executive will be proposing Keith Ricken (St. Vincent’s) as incoming Senior Football manager on a two-year term at our next County Committee meeting.

“Selectors will be as follows: Micheál Ó Cróinín (Naomh Abán), Ray Keane (MTU / St. Finbarr’s), James Loughrey (St. Brigid’s / Mallow), Barry Corkery (Éire Óg) and Des Cullinane (St. Nicholas). Coach to be announced in the near future.”

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Scarlets v Munster will kick-off at 14:00 on Sunday, 10th October in Parc y Scarlets in Wales. Ben Blain will take charge of the match while Neil Paterson will man the TMO.

The match will be broadcast live on URC TV, RTÉ 2, and Premier Sports this Sunday.

Scarlets are in good form having only lost just one of their last six home matches across the PRO14, Rainbow Cup, and United Rugby Championship.

The Welsh team enjoyed a comfortable win at home to the Lions last weekend. They are also set to welcome three of their own Lions players back this week in captain Ken Owens, Wyn Jones, and Gareth Davies.

The stags have claimed two strong bonus-point wins to start the new season in Thomond Park to South African opposition. Munster now faces their biggest test of the season away to Dwayne Peel’s Scarlets on Sunday afternoon.

Munster has lost just twice away from home in any competition this year. They will also have the chance to wear their Adidas Alternate kit for the first time this season.

@scarlets_rugby fans, tell us… #URC pic.twitter.com/l6vMncPHwf

— United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) August 17, 2021

Scarlets v Munster Starting Teams

Scarlets

Johnny McNicholl; Tom Rogers, Jonathan Davies (capt), Scott Williams, Steff Evans; Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies; Rob Evans, Ken Owens, Samson Lee, Lloyd Ashley, Aaron Shingler, Blade Thomson, Dan Davis, Sione Kalamafoni.

Replacements

Ryan Elias, Wyn Jones, WillGriff John, Morgan Jones, Shaun Evans, Kieran Hardy, Dan Jones, Johnny Williams.

Munster

Matt Gallagher; Calvin Nash, Liam Coombes, Dan Goggin, Shane Daly; Ben Healy, Neil Cronin; Jeremy Loughman, Diarmuid Barron, Stephen Archer; Thomas Ahern, Fineen Wycherley; Jack O’Donoghue (C), Chris Cloete, Jack O’Sullivan.

Replacements

Kevin O’Byrne, Josh Wycherley, John Ryan, RG Snyman, Alex Kendellen, Paddy Patterson, Jack Crowley, Jack Daly.

Best of luck to Liam Coombes and his Munster teammates who travel to take on Scarlets at 2pm on Sunday. Mumhan Abu!https://t.co/xv5a17hCuJ @Munsterrugby pic.twitter.com/DpVPGvqCn6

— Skibbereen Rugby (@SkibbereenRugby) October 8, 2021

Scarlets v Munster Betting

Outright Betting

Scarlets 1/2

Draw 18/1

Munster 17/10

Handicap Betting

Scarlets (-5) 10/11

Draw (-5) 22/1

Munster (+5) 10/11

Score Predictions

Even with the major boosts of the last two weeks, it is hard to see Munster getting a win at the weekend. With Johann Van Graam’s very changed side and Scarlet’s returning Lions’ players, the Stags will need a lot of belief to get anything from this game.

Expect the Scarlets to win the game by less than ten points.

Beast mode ACTIVATED @Munsterrugby’s RG Snyman one-hands his way to the try line, holding off the bulk of @THESTORMERS’ team! #URC | #MUNSTO pic.twitter.com/s6ktofljHZ

— United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) October 2, 2021

To read more in-depth an up-to-date Munster and Irish rugby news, click here.

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Reds fans were happy at the weekend after the provincial side came back from 15 points down to win comfortably. Johann Van Graam’s side secured the bonus point in Thomond Park with a 34-18 win over DHL Stormers.

It was a happy occasion for the rugby club with South African star RG Snyman pushing through for a try. This was his first score since returning from a 13-month injury.

RG Snyman is playing a different game to the rest of us. pic.twitter.com/muzEdpbNq1

— The Loose Head (@TheLooseH) October 2, 2021

Although it was a majorly positive day, the celebrations were marred by an alleged moment. Munster hooker Niall Scannell has made the claim that he was bitten in the leg by a Stormers player.

This bite accusation is also backed up by the Stags’ captain Peter O’Mahony. He told the referee, Andrew Brace about the incident during the match but it could not be confirmed by the video footage.

During the game, Brace told O’Mahony: “I understand your frustrations, but there’s nothing in the footage.

“If there’s anything there, my citing officer will deal with it.”

The Munster Head Coach has said that Scannell will undergo a medical examination for safety reasons. Van Graam also said post-match that the club will look further into Scannell and O’Mahony’s claim.

“Niall reported that to Pete on the pitch, the referee had a look at it, they couldn’t see any evidence of it, but we’ll go through the right channels.”

IRTV: Niall Scannell On His 1st Cap #TeamOfUs https://t.co/gCNzoq4yuC pic.twitter.com/EP7Ou9yKVc

— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) February 12, 2017

Scannell was not seriously injured by the alleged incident and continued to play the match. The hooker also scored a try, driving home from a maul in the 50th minute.

Munster’s performance showed that they will be one of the strongest teams competing in the United Rugby Championship but they still have more areas to improve on before their next game.

They will next play Scarlets at 14:00 on Sunday 10th October in Wales.

To read more in-depth and up-to-date Munster and Irish rugby news, click here.

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