MUNSTER WILL HAVE Peter O’Mahony in their starting line-up for the first time in over a year when they take on Leinster tomorrow at the Aviva Stadum [KO 2.05pm, TG4 & Sky Sports 1].
O’Mahony, who returned last weekend as a substitute in the win against Zebre for the first time since injuring his knee at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, will captain his side for the inter-provincial derby in the Guinness Pro12.
Second-placed Munster, who are a point ahead of Leinster in third, have made five changes in personnel from their 49-5 defeat of the Italians, as new Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus aims for a fourth consecutive victory.
After making his Munster debut against Zebre, South African international centre Jaco Taute drops to the bench to be replaced by Rory Scannell, who’s back from a neck injury he sustained in the loss to Cardiff Blues in round two. The other change in the backs is on the wing, where Ronan O’Mahony comes in for Alex Wootton.
There are two changes in the front row, with Niall Scannell and John Ryan given the nod ahead of Duncan Casey and Stephen Archer, both of whom are named among the replacements.
With Peter O’Mahony coming into the back row, Billy Holland hands over the captain’s armband and moves into the second row alongside Donnacha Ryan, and Darren O’Shea drops out of the matchday squad.
Munster:
15. Simon Zebo
14. Darren Sweetnam
13. Keith Earls
12. Rory Scannell
11. Ronan O’Mahony
10. Tyler Bleyendaal
9. Conor Murray
1. Dave Kilcoyne
2. Niall Scannell
3. John Ryan
4. Donnacha Ryan
5. Billy Holland
6. Peter O’Mahony (captain)
7. Tommy O’Donnell
8. CJ Stander
Replacements:
16. Duncan Casey
17. James Cronin
18. Stephen Archer
19. Robin Copeland
20. Jack O’Donoghue
21. Duncan Williams
22. Ian Keatley
23. Jaco Taute
That was as poor a refs performance that I’ve seen in a long time. Soft cards and sendings off on both sides. Cork had chances apart from that and didn’t take them. Kudos at the end to Hurley to go for goal and a fine save by the dubs keeper.
@Dano Siorain: Ref should be locked up. Brutal performance. Fellas got jail for less
@Dano Siorain: surely Hurley had no other option than go for goal? 2 points adrift with time up? Either way, Dublin should have kicked on after HT being a few points up and a man advantage. Credit to Cork that Dublin couldn’t do that. McCaffrey made a difference immediately and McCarthy’s experience was valuable. Nothing much is won or lost in Feb though …
Why does John Cleary’s “sending offs” deserve a (sic) while Dessie Farrell’s doesn’t?
@Declan Murphy: And, on top of that, the author writes: “Dublin boss Dessie Farrell also felt the red cards call (sic) were ‘soft’”. The “sic” in this case is mine. If you’re going to be a fussy author, at least get your own grammar correct!
@Thomas O’ Donnell: excellent comment
@Declan Murphy: Pedant
In all my years I’ve never seen two worse red cards than today. God help us if this is where football is heading. The first one is shere comedy
@Tom Collins: they were both second yellows, not straight reds. Speaking here as a Corkman, but Maguire was an idiot. He was on a yellow and pulled the guys jersey straight in front of the ref. Not the hardest tug but still a jersey pull . Nothing unusual in giving a yellow card for a jersey tug. Gannon I thought was unlucky though he did turn the shoulder a little into the Cork player. I have also seen social media comments about the Cork disallowed goal but looking at that one it seemed the guys foot was just in the square. Marginal but not unfair.
Jack doesn’t seem to have lost any speed,bring it on
Meanwhile in Tuam, blatant cynical fouling went unpunished by the referee. No consistency in refereeing.
Meanwhile in Tuam, blatant cynical fouling by Tyrone went unpunished. No consistency in refereeing.
@Peter Daly: could u repeat that again ?
@IrishOwl: Please?
@Peter Daly: You should see what the Armagh boys got away with again yesterday.
If a lot of cards and sendings off improve the quality of the game overall, then referees should persist.It is a physical game but too often you see it being reduced to nasty cynical ‘tackles’ because winning at literally all costs has become far more important than the quality of the game. Besides, these are ‘amateur’ players who can’t afford to be off work for six weeks because they got an elbow in the face or a broken leg.
@Barrycelona: agreed. I thought it was noticeable that the game flowed a bit better when both were reduced to 14. More space of course but nonetheless. The players are so fit now that sometimes it’s not noticeable at all