Here are the teams.
LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan; Liam Turner, Garry Ringrose, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe; Ciarán Frawley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Lee Barron, Tadhg Furlong; RG Snyman, James Ryan; Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt).
Replacements: Gus McCarthy, Cian Healy, Thomas Clarkson, Ryan Baird, Max Deegan, Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne, Harry Byrne.
MUNSTER: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Sean O’Brien; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne; Jack O’Donoghue, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Kevin Ryan, John Ryan, Tom Ahern, Ruadhán Quinn, Conor Murray, Tony Butler, Shay McCarthy.
Referee: C Busby (Ulster)
30 mins: Leinster 21 Munster 0
Leinster won a scrum penalty in the first of the match, Munster win a scrum penalty with their first put-in.
28 mins: Leinster 21 Munster 0
Munster have played some lovely rugby and found some holes in the Leinster defence, but they need to get some points from the pressure and territory. The lineout has been an issue for Munster, Ryan with a couple of steals but they’ve also disrupted several other throws.
23 mins: Leinster 21 Munster 0
Lovely passage of play from Munster, Tom Farrell with a superb break and offload to Casey, good interplay but O’Brien’s inside pass was intercepted on the Leinster line. Munster were playing on penalty advantage, Andrew Porter the culprit. Munster go to the corner. They get some purchase from the maul, work their way infield to three metres under the posts. They move the ball out wide but Nankivell’s long cut out pass to Calvin Nash is adjudged forward. Try ruled out.
21 mins: Leinster 21 Munster 0
Attendance 80,468. Official figure. Good passage from Munster sees them win another penalty and they kick to the Leinster five metre line but James Ryan pinches another one.
19 mins: Leinster 21 Munster 0
Crowley hits the crossbar with a long-range penalty. Scannell returns. Jack Conan is gone. Max Deegan is on. Munster turn down another shot at goal to go for the corner.
16 mins: Leinster 21 Munster 0
TRY Keenan. Leinster on the attack again, working Lowe clear on the wing. His chip and chase is gathered by Crowley, but the home side force a penalty, and then another from a lineout. From the second set piece, they force Munster to get narrow in defence as they desperately defend their line and with that Leinster move the ball to Keenan who crosses by the posts unopposed. Frawley converts.
Munster lose their replacement hooker Barron to an injury. Academy prop Kieran Ryan comes on. The visitors evening is unravelling horribly.
13 mins: Munster prop Jeremy Loughman is off with a cut, two down now from the starting frontrow. John Ryan, a tighthead comes on at loosehead.
10 mins: Leinster 14 Munster 0
TRY: Doris. Another sweeping Leinster attack into the Munster 22 and it’s the same outcome. Munster are penalised, Lowe takes a quick tap, two rucks later, Josh van der Flier crashes to within a couple of metres of the line and then Doris muscles his way over from close range. Frawley converts.
8 mins: Leinster 7 Munster 0
Doris penalised at a ruck, Niall Scannell goes off for a Head Injury Assessment (HIA), Munster kick a penalty to touch inside Leinster 22 but James Ryan with a brilliant steal. Diarmuid Barron is on for Scannell.
5 mins: Leinster 7 Munster 0
TRY: James Lowe. Furlong with a big carry in the build-up, Jamie Osborne with the offload to Frawley and from the ruck 2 metres out, Jamison Gibson Park hits the unmarked Lowe. That’s his seventh try against Munster. Frawley kicks a superb conversion.
4 mins: Leinster 0 Munster 0
Leinster win a breakdown penalty, Tadhg Furlong with a great tackle. Snyman with a great take and Leinster are in the Munster 22.
2 mins: Leinster 0 Munster 0
Munster win their first lineout, a bit of kick tennis ensues.
First penalty, RG Snyman runs underneath Mike Haley from kickoff.
Leinster will kickoff through Ciarán Frawley.
Teams are out. Kickoff imminent.
Nearly time to go.
We are nearly the end of the preamble but one last bit of viewing.
Final words from the coaches.
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen: “It’s been a remarkable couple of weeks. We thank the supporters for turning out. It is an iconic venue. It feels like a proper knock out game not a round four URC match. We are privileged to be here.
Munster head coach Graham Rowntree: “We’re good, we have had a good week. The lads are ready. What a place. We need to get our game on the field. (The scrum) is an area we need to achieve parity. The nuts and bolts is a requirement in any game. We need to be on it (in defence) too.
Read Gerry Thornley’s preview here.
Nathan Johns had a look at Gavin Coombes as a player and what he needs to do to make it back into the Ireland squad. Read this thoughts here.
Players on the pitch, pundits in the corner. Half an hour to kickoff.
Heard a whisper that Ireland will play Portugal for the first time at Test level next summer, a story that appears to have been confirmed by the Portuguese Rugby Union. There is no venue or date but the game is expected to take place in Portugal and likely to be a fourth Test for Ireland on their way home from playing in Georgia (two Tests) and Romania.
One for the Munster supporters.
ONE HOUR TO GO KLAXON
One potentially fascinating duel of many in today’s game centres on the battle of the outhalves. Munster’s Jack Crowley is Ireland’s first choice while Ciarán Frawley’s two drop goals in the second Test against the Springboks at King’s Park in Durban enabled Andy Farrell’s team to draw the series 1-1.
I spoke to both players, Crowley ahead of the second Test and Frawley immediately after it.
Jack Crowley impresses early on in his journey to becoming Ireland’s go-to man
Ciarán Frawley savours best moment of his career after drop goal heroics
Lovely stat from the Examiner’s Kieran Shannon that 14 Leinster/Munster players from the 2009 match went on to write autobiographies in which they talked about that particular game. Munster: Ronan O’Gara, Paul O’Connell, Alan Quinlan, John Hayes, Keith Earls, Donncha O’Callaghan, Peter Stringer. Leinster: Brian O’Driscoll, Jamie Heaslip, Johnny Sexton, Bernard Jackman, Seán O’Brien, Rob Kearney, Leo Cullen. NOw if you want to while away a little time, see if you can name the 14 book titles.
Getting in the practice.
The calm before the.........................
On a brief tangential note. According to media reports Leinster today confirmed that they have cancelled sponsors’ Q&A with Rocky Elsom that was due to take place at Croke Park. The Australian who won the Heineken Cup with Leinster in 2009 and has been working in Dublin of late is the subject of an international arrest warrant having been found guilty in absentia for “forgery, use of forgery and misuse of corporate assets by a Narbonne court on Friday. Read the full story here.
Leinster have injury issues in the back three, Tommy O’Brien, Jimmy O’Brien, Jordan Larmour and Rob Russell injured while Robbie Henshaw is also unavailable. Liam Turner gets a chance to transfer his centre skills from centre to right wing. Jamie Osborne partners Garry Ringrose in midfield while Ciarán Frawley has won the battle for the 10 jersey.
Injuries to Dan Sheehan and Rónan Kelleher mean that Lee Barron starts at hooker, RG Snyman plays his first competitive game in Dublin since leaving Munster in the summer. Caelan Doris captains the side while Jack Conan is named at blindside flanker. Gus McCarthy is another who returned early from the Emerging Ireland tour, and he’ll offer back-up at hooker.
The Byrne brothers, Ross and Harry, are named among the replacements. Ulster’s Chris Busby will have the whistle.
Hello and welcome to the Irish Times blog. John O’Sullivan here to take you through the action today. Leinster and Munster return to Croke Park for the first time since their only previous meeting at GAA Headquarters in 2009, a European Champions Cup semi-final which Leinster won. In doing so they avenged a defeat to Munster at the same stage of the tournament two years earlier, match played at Lansdowne Road.
This time the teams meet in the United Rugby Championship (URC). Renovations at the RDS mean that Leinster will largely play their home games at the Aviva Stadium but the decision to move this game to Croke Park was vindicated when the sold-out signs went up on Friday morning. An 82,300-capacity crowd is expected.
Graham Rowntree’s Munster have an extensive injury list that runs to about 15 players but there was good news in that fullback Mike Haley and centre Alex Nankevill, standout players, have shrugged off their ailments and start. Seán O’Brien returned early from the Emerging Ireland tour and takes his place on the left wing.
First choice halfbacks Jack Crowley and Craig Casey will be hoping for a decent platform. Despite the absence of Peter O’Mahony, the back five in the pack, is festooned with quality. Academy prop Kevin Ryan is named among the replacements, a bench that includes Conor Murray and John Ryan. Tom Ahern is back after injury while Ruadhán Quinn has passed the return to play protocols.
Highlights
- Gerry Thornley’s match preview
- All you need to know
- Gordon D’Arcy: Leinster prepare to step on the gas with preseason done and dusted early
- The Counter Ruck podcast: The history of a bitter rivalry
