When and where is it on?
Leinster are playing Munster in the United Rugby Championship (URC) on Saturday, November 25th at 6.30pm in the Aviva Stadium.
How can I watch it?
The game is broadcast on TG4 and Premier Sports. The game is also being streamed live on the TG4 Player.
What is at stake?
It is early days in the URC but this is the first interprovincial match of the season for Leinster and the first meeting with their old rivals Munster. After the Rugby World Cup hangover, all the Irish players that played in France that are fit are available, and with the Champions Cup beginning in two weeks, the Irish rugby club season is truly back in full swing.
What is the team news?
Gerry Thornley reports Leinster are “locked and loaded”, with nine of their Rugby World Cup frontliners back for last Saturday’s 54-5 win over the Scarlets, Jack Conan and Robbie Henshaw could both be seen training fully on Tuesday and look set to make their seasonal reappearances against Munster, with Ross Byrne and Tadhg Furlong set to start as well.
Assistant coach Andrew Goodman confirmed that the province has “pretty much a full roster”, with Cian Healy, Ed Byrne and Mike Milne also back training, albeit Tommy O’Brien (ankle), Cormac Foley (shoulder), John McKee (hamstring), Luke McGrath (knee) and Alex Soroka (foot) are still sidelined.
It is not such a clean bill of health for Munster, with Peter O’Mahony is not fit after he was taken off injured in the game against Stormers last weekend. His replacement Jack O’Donoghue does not make it either after an ankle injury. Munster’s new signing Oli Jager has arrived in Munster but did not make the squad. The province will also have Jean Kleyn available to return, with the second row back in training.
Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose (co-capt), Robbie Henshaw, Jimmy O’Brien; Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan (capt); Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Jack Boyle, Michael Ala’alatoa, Ross Molony, James Culhane, Ben Murphy, Ciarán Frawley, Scott Penny.
Munster: Simon Zebo; Calvin Nash, Antoine Frisch, Rory Scannell, Shane Daly; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Diarmuid Barron (capt), Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne; Tom Ahern, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Scott Buckley, Dave Kilcoyne, John Ryan, Brian Gleeson, Alex Kendellen, Conor Murray, Tony Butler, Shay McCarthy.
What have their results been like so far?
Leinster lead the table with four wins from five games, and a points difference of 84. Their sole defeat was in the opening round against Glasgow Warriors, but they were missing a lot of first-teamers for that game post-World Cup. Munster are sixth, three points behind Leinster, they have won three games, drawn one and lost one – they lost to Ulster, drew with Benetton and beat Dragons, Stormers and Sharks.
Has Rugby World Cup-winning coach Jacques Nienaber arrived yet for Leinster?
It remains to be seen whether Jacques Nienaber will arrive at Leinster in time, reports Gerry Thornley. South Africa’s World Cup-winning coach was due to land this week but his arrival has been delayed by commercial commitments with the SARU. Leo Cullen is relatively sanguine about the timing of Nienaber’s arrival, preferring that he joins up with the squad at the time that best suits him rather than be placed under any pressure.
