Cardiff v Munster LIVE score updates, TV channel info, stream and more
The stakes couldn't be much higher for either Munster or Cardiff as we approach the business end of the URC season.
With just three games to go, both Munster and Cardiff are hanging on in the play-off spots and are looking to end the season in good form.
A year ago, things were much different for Munster; they ended up topping the table following a late run-in.
However, there have been plenty of bright spots for the side including a recent memorable European win over La Rochelle.
They know they can ill-afford to slip up tonight against Cardiff if they are to force themselves into the playoffs.
Today's game takes place at 7.35 pm and will be broadcast live on TG4 and can be streamed on the TG4 Player. We will have live score updates right here on the Irish Mirror.
Cardiff: Cam Winnett, Josh Adams, Harri Millard, Ben Thomas, Gabe Hamer-Webb, Callum Sheedy, Johan Mulder, Taulupe Faletau, Thomas Young, James Botham, Teddy Williams, Josh McNally, Keiron Assiratti, Liam Belcher (c), Danny SouthworthReplacements: Evan Lloyd, Corey Domachowski, Rhys Litterick, Rory Thornton, Alun Lawrence, Ben Donnell, Aled Davies, Tinus de Beer
Munster: Mike Haley, Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Thaakir Abrahams, Jack Crowley, Craig Casey, Gavin Coombes, Alex Kendellen, Jack O'Donoghue, Tadhg Beirne (c), Fineen Wycherley, John Ryan, Niall Scannell, Michael MilneReplacements: Diarmuid Barron, Mark Donnelly, Ronan Foxe, Jean Kleyn, Ruadhan Quinn, Paddy Patterson, Tony Butler, Sean O'Brien
Hello and welcome to live coverage as Cardiff take on Munster in Round 16 of the URC.
It has been a mixed season for Munster, who sit in 7th place and are in danger of missing the end-of-season playoffs, while Cardiff are in a similar predicament in 6th place.
Today's game is shaping up nicely and with just three games left it looks like the winner here will make the knockout stages.
Kick-off for the game is 7.35 pm and will be broadcast live on TG4. We will have all the live updates right here on the Irish Mirror.
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Irish Examiner
20 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Questions linger as Leinster go to the well yet again
Perception is everything. As of Friday afternoon, Leinster had 'only' sold 15,000 tickets for this BKT URC semi-final against Glasgow Warriors at the Aviva Stadium. This on the back of a crowd under 13,000 for last week's quarter-final at the same venue. Here, goes the theory, is proof positive of a hangover among fans who had their heart set on a Champions Cup final date in Cardiff and only to be denied by that sensational Northampton Saints performance. Here, too, is claimed evidence of a general fatigue among a paying public that has been forking out money for home knockout game after knockout game across two competitions for donkey's years, and with no reward at the end of it since 2021. So, some context. The hope is that Leinster will play in front of in and around 19,000 punters in Ballsbridge this time. That would be their second biggest URC playoff attendance in the six they have played since the new tournament succeeded the PRO14. The one bigger crowd was for Munster's win in 2023. 'It's an improvement on previous years,' said Leo Cullen who has urged supporters to get behind the team while recognising wider economic forces at play. 'I don't know if anyone saw Crusaders against Reds this morning, in terms of the crowd, it looked brutal.' Debate this as we may, the scoreboard provides figures that brook no argument. Win here and Leinster will be 80 minutes from a first trophy in four years and a chance to dilute the opprobrium that has come their way lately. They go out for this one without four of the dozen players named in Andy Farrell's British and Irish Lions squad in May. Hugo Keenan, like Garry Ringrose and Tadhg Furlong, has picked up a calf injury while Josh van der Flier's issue is a hamstring. None are said to be long-term issues – there is certainly no sense of their touring spots being at risk - but Leinster were already without longer-term absentees in captain Caelan Doris, Robbie Henshaw and Will Connors. Even a squad like theirs will suffer for all that. Glasgow have their own holes to fill with the Fagerson brothers, Zander and Matt, unavailable, as well as Jack Dempsey, key centre Huw Jones and half-a-dozen others, but they look re-energised for their last eight defeat of the Stormers. Cullen has noted the visitors' decision to bring in Adam Hastings, a ten noted for his kicking game, which, allied to a weather forecast that promises some heavy rain, could point to a tactical, cagey affair if there is no early and clear separation on the board. The Warriors outscored the Stormers by five tries to two in Scotsoun eight days ago despite having less possession and only 35% territory, and Cullen noted their ability to 'push boundaries' with the concession of 16 penalties against just four. Leinster didn't come out of their own quarter-final, against the Scarlets in Dublin, with anything like the same bounce - quite the opposite - but they did show signs of adapting their approach to the vagaries of knockout rugby. Time and again we have seen the province look to turn the screw by kicking penalties to the corner so it was notable how Sam Prendergast opted to keep the scoreboard ticking over with penalties on 36, 66 and 74 minutes. The head coach also touched on the need to 'adapt' if the game gets sticky down the stretch. To play the referee, the opposition and the conditions. And to ignore all the noise that has built up around the team and the club in recent weeks. Not just the hand-wringing over that Saints loss and recent form, but the prospect of that Lions tour down the road for so many of their number, and the Ireland tour to Georgia and Portugal for another dozen of them. Leinster are still double-digit favourites with some odd makers, but this feels closer than that. Glasgow are the reigning champions, after all, and they lifted the trophy last year on the back of a semi-final win in Ireland and a decider eked out in South Africa. For all that, the focus here must be on Leinster. Is there still heart and momentum enough in them to shake off the torpor of the last month and claim a home final seven days down the road against the Bulls or the Sharks? That is the question. 'There is a genuine excitement about it, playing again,' said Cullen in his missive for the troops. 'We know the stakes are high. It's great. Where would you want to be at this time of year? What else would you want to be doing?' LEINSTER: J O'Brien, T O'Brien, J Osborne, J Barrett, J Lowe, S Prendergast, J Gibson-Park, A Porter, D Sheehan, T Clarkson, J McCarthy, J Ryan, R Baird, S Penny, J Conan. Replacements: R Kelleher, J Boyle, R Slimani, RG Snyman, M Deegan, L McGrath, R Byrne, C Frawley. GLASGOW WARRIORS: J McKay, K Steyn, S Tuipulotu, T Jordan, K Rowe, A Hastings, G Horne, J Bhatti, G Hiddleston, F Richardson, A Samuel, S Cummings, E Ferrie, R Darge, H Venter. Replacements: J Matthews, R Sutherland, S Talakai, M Williamson, J Mann, M Duncan, S McDowall, J Dobie. Referee: A Piardi (FIR).
The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Leo Cullen plans for penalties as Leinster target URC final breakthrough in Glasgow semi-final
LEO CULLEN wants Leinster to kick on to the URC final — and he is ready for kicks to decide it if it comes to that. Advertisement 2 Leinster boss Leo Cullen admitted that he's left no stone unturned ahead of the URC semi-final against Glasgow 2 Munster suffered a heartbreaking defeat via penalties against the Sharks last week - and Leinster boss Cullen is ready for that if needs be And while favourites for victory, Cullen is taking no chances as he admitted He said: 'I don't know was the fact there was a penalty shootout in one of the games last week, does that play on our minds, stacking the bench with kickers? 'It is a possibility and it is definitely something that needs to be considered.' What it means is that, as well as Ciarán Frawley, Ross Byrne is Advertisement read more on rugby Frawley normally covers No 10 when he is on the bench but will now cover midfield and full-back. And, along with Prendergast, it gives Leinster three quality kickers in their panel as the Blues head into their fifth knockout game of the season between the Champions Cup and the URC. Shootouts are a rarity in rugby and Leinster have never been in one. But Cullen's men have been preparing for that eventuality over the past two months. Cullen continued: 'It has been there. This is play-off game five. Advertisement Most read in Rugby Union 'Extra-time has been in the mix for a while now so it's one of those scenarios that we would talk about and practice for the kickers.' But while Leinster prepare for all eventualities as they bid to get to the final, Cullen is confident that motivation is one area that does not need addressing. 'Big weekend' - Peter O'Mahony embarking on hectic gardening project as he aims to add '300 plants' Ever since that agonising 37-34 loss to Northampton, a cloud has hung over the province. But a URC final and victory would end a four-year trophy drought. Advertisement And He said: 'I was watching the Champions League and a lot of the pundits were saying the other team was going to win. They lost. 'We think we might know what's going to happen but it's two teams going at it and we'll wait and see. 'There's enough going on to be motivated to get through this game at the weekend. If you put on and get a performance, lots of things will fall into place.' Advertisement Cullen's troops are near full strength but Lions quartet Garry Ringrose (calf), Tadhg Furlong (calf), Josh van der Flier (hamstring) and Hugo Keenan (calf) will not be risked as they near returns. Their absences open the door for Jimmy O'Brien at full-back and Scott Penny — overlooked by Ireland for the upcoming games against Georgia and Portugal this week — on the flank, while Jamie Osborne starts in midfield. Osborne, 23, has played in all five backline slots this season but Cullen admits midfield may be his best position. He said: 'We have had that conversation with Jamie. Advertisement 'He's played 15 for Ireland, on the wing in the Six Nations and has featured in the centre. He's more of a midfielder or No 15. I don't think we see him on the wing anyway. 'He can do a job on the wing, but we don't see him as a winger, he's a midfielder who plays 15 or a 15 that plays midfield. 'He's still very young at 23. If he's nailed down a position as a 25-year-old, you'd hope he'd have ten years left in his career.' LEINSTER: J O'Brien, T O'Brien, J Osborne, J Barrett, J Lowe, S Prendergast, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, D Sheenan, T Clarkson, J McCarthy, J Ryan, R Baird, S Penny, J Conan. Reps: R Kelleher, J Boyle, R Slimani, RG Snyman, M Deegan, L McGrath, R Byrne, C Frawley. Advertisement
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Gearóid Hegarty and Tom Morrissey ‘the line that sets Limerick apart from everyone else'
They made their championship debuts on the same day: June 19th, 2016. Limerick deployed Gearóid Hegarty on Pádraic Maher, as a one-man anti-missile defence. Tom Morrissey came on 10 minutes before Hegarty was replaced and scored a worthless goal in stoppage time. Tipperary played with 14 men for over an hour and still won. It was Limerick's night before Limerick's day. For Morrissey and Hegarty, their glittering futures were not a figment of anyone's imagination yet. Hegarty had begun the year on the Limerick football panel because that was the only offer on the table. Morrissey was a couple of years younger than Hegarty but some of his peers from the under-21 squad were on a faster track. After Tipp, Limerick met Westmeath in the first round of the qualifiers and Morrissey played no part. You know what happened in the end: the All-Irelands, the awards, the acclaim, the Marvel Comics stuff. In a team of difference-makers and rainmakers and Hall of Famers, Morrissey and Hegarty became essential. The yeast in the loaf. In the Munster final on Saturday, they will make their 50th championship appearance together. On every other line in the Limerick team there have been degrees of flux: different centrefield partnerships, rotation among the inside forwards, churn in the full-back line. At 10 and 12, though, Morrissey and Hegarty have stood as pillars. READ MORE 'That is the line that sets Limerick apart from everyone else,' says Barry Cleary, co-founder of GAA Insights and who has worked as an analyst with a range of intercounty teams in recent years. 'Everyone else struggles with their half-forward line – chopping and changing. Those two lads, they're just dominant in those positions. They go up and down [the flank] and up and down. You look at other teams: they have half forwards who can come back the field but can't get back up. Then there's guys who just stay forward. Morrissey and Hegarty do everything.' [ Joe Canning: Limerick's unrivalled big-match experience gives them edge over Cork in Munster final Opens in new window ] Though their paths converged they didn't start from the same place. Morrissey captained Limerick to win the under-21 All-Ireland in 2017, and while he suffered a run of dull form in the middle of that season and was taken off in the final, scoreless, his potential was not the subject of second thoughts. For Hegarty, the problem was persuading people to look at him twice and think again. He was a gangly teenager, and like a crossword, he was full of blanks and cryptic clues. For two years he was part of the Limerick minor hurling panel, and in his second season he failed to make the match-day squad. It sounds outlandish now, but not then. It didn't represent a blind spot in anyone's judgment. The clues were obscure. In his late teens the Limerick footballers saw a blank canvass. Hegarty tells a story from his first gym session with the group in UL. The players were asked to bench press three-quarters of their body weight and Hegarty was paired with Garrett Noonan, who was about the same size. Noonan did 25 reps at 70kg and Hegarty stepped up for his turn. Gearóid Hegarty, seen here with Dan Morrissey in last month's Round 4 match against Cork in Limerick. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho 'I said, 'Jesus, this can't be too bad,'' said Hegarty. 'I got down and I couldn't even lift the bar. I was never so embarrassed in all my life. I swore to myself, 'That will never happen again'.' TJ Ryan was manager of the Limerick senior hurlers when Hegarty was eventually called up. 'How raw was he?' Ryan was asked once. 'Oh, jeepers, as raw as could be. I don't even know how you could measure it.' Hegarty, though, railed against that perception. In his mind it was like stripping down a layer of wallpaper; the blockwork was still there. 'Everyone used to say my hurling was so raw,' he told Larry Ryan a couple of years ago, 'and I'm not much of a hurler. It used to annoy the life out of me. I used to think, 'I only started playing football a couple of years ago. I was always a hurler.' I had lost a bit of the touch, but I knew it would come back.' [ Cork believe goals win games but Limerick's sharpshooting can get the job done Opens in new window ] Establishing himself took time. In the jungle, big beasts are not shielded from predators. One night at Limerick training Hegarty wandered into Tom Condon's den and flouted the house rules. 'I suppose as the corner back you'd be swinging off fellas and pulling and dragging,' says Condon now. 'Gearóid got sick of it, and he gave me a dalk of the hurley into the back. 'I turned around and I chased him around the square and I gave him a flake. Nickie Quaid nearly fell over laughing. It was a kind of 'welcome to the panel'. It was the last time he did it. In fairness to the man, he gave it, and he took it.' As athletes, Morrissey and Hegarty are different specimens. Hegarty is built like a Springbok flanker, standing at 6ft 5in and carrying more than 15 stone; Morrissey is four inches shorter and a stone lighter. 'Tom covers a huge amount of ground, but his running style is laborious,' says Niall Moran, the former Limerick forward and a clubmate of Morrissey's in Ahane. Hegarty, though, has an equine stride. Tom Morrissey after last year's All-Ireland final. 'A phenomenal leader. He demands respect and he always gets respect,' says Barry Hennessy. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho 'The first 150 [metre run] we did with Joe O'Connor [former Limerick S&C] I was beside Gearóid,' says Barry Hennessy, who was a goalkeeper on the Limerick panel for more than a decade. 'He did the first five metres in two steps. I remember trying to match him stride for stride and I died a death. I got to four [runs] out of six and I was seeing stars.' As people? Morrissey, says Hennessy, can be 'horizontal', which is a more complex state than you might imagine. 'Fun to be around,' says Moran. 'Great, great company. One hell of a guy. Well able to tune out but when he tunes in, he carries guys with him. A phenomenal leader. He demands respect and he always gets respect. 'In Ahane, we haven't won a county in 22 years and Tom is the man going around saying, 'We have to win a county.' There's nothing impossible to him. There's no glass ceiling over him. Tom doesn't always conform to the common viewpoint. He'll wear his hair the way he wants to. He'll go travelling when he feels like it's the right thing for Tom to do. But he is the quintessential team player. In any other generation he would have made an exceptional Limerick captain.' Ambition is the fire in Hegarty too: 'He is a winner,' says Hennessy. 'He has a self-confidence but not an arrogance. People who wouldn't know him might say he was arrogant but he's not. He's a winner and he's very confident in his own ability. When things are going against him, he still thinks he can deliver. 'Against Tipp [in the first round of the Munster championship] people might have been saying he didn't have the best day with the ball in his hand, but his tackle count was 16 or 17. It was off the charts.' With that level of physicality comes risks and because Hegarty plays on the edge he sometimes loses his footing. In the All-Ireland semi-final and final in 2020 he committed 12 fouls and was penalised for 10 frees, without getting booked. His tackle on Joe Canning in the semi-final should have been a straight red. That was also the season when he was the undisputed Hurler of the Year. Two years later, though, he was sent off twice and on RTÉ Donal Óg Cusack said that Hegarty 'had it coming'. When he was sent off again in the first round of the 2023 championship John Kiely dropped him for the next match. This is Kiely's ninth season as Limerick manager and the Munster final will be his 50th championship match in the role; in all that time, Hegarty has only been left out three times. Morrissey hasn't been omitted since Kiely's first season in 2017. Gearóid Hegarty scores a goal in the 2022 All-Ireland final against Kilkenny. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho Hegarty and Morrissey became the heart and lungs of the team. Their impact on big games became an article of faith. In the All-Ireland finals of 2020, 21 and 22 they scored 3-28 from play, between them. Hegarty has scored more goals in All-Ireland finals than any other round of the championship. At the height of their dominance Limerick strangled teams in the air and devoured them on primary ball. On puck-outs, Quaid, Hegarty and Morrissey represented the most potent triangle in hurling. In match analysis there are no secrets. Every intercounty team has equal access to RTÉ's high camera footage behind the goal. Limerick's puck-outs have been dissected from every angle and yet nobody has broken the lifeline between Quaid and his wing forwards. [ Munster final tactical analysis: Cork must be sharper with puckouts against Limerick Opens in new window ] 'In the Cork match a couple of weeks ago I was watching the way Hegarty was shaking off Rob Downey for puck-outs and he makes it look so easy,' says Cleary. 'When you talk about analysis, the most videos I'd show teams is the way Hegarty loses his man on puck-outs. He knows how to make the guy switch off for a second and then he goes. It makes you look stupid. 'Nickie [Quaid] is just watching to see the movement. There's no signals. They leave the zone open and those lads sprint to that zone. If Nickie sees a guy getting a step ahead, he'll hit to that spot. Hegarty makes it look so easy. It even looks like he's plodding and there's lads not able to keep up with him.' Condon reckons that Morrissey has been Limerick's 'most consistent' player in the Kiely years. The only stain on Hegarty's record is 2023. His form dropped to such a degree that he was the only Limerick starter omitted from the All Star nominations. A year later, he was one of only four Limerick players to win an All Star. Last winter, Morrissey went travelling for three months with his girlfriend, touring seven countries in South America. He returned a day before Limerick played Cork in the league and in the following couple of months, he struggled to pick up the pace. Against Tipp in the opening round of the championship he scored just once from five shots; against Waterford it was three from five; against Cork, five from six. Do you need a graph to see the pattern? 'Earlier this year, when guys were questioning that maybe he had come back a little late from his travels, I think he nearly thrived on people doubting his credentials,' says Moran. 'I think over the last couple of weeks he's been back to his very, very best. As good as he's ever been.' With Morrissey and Hegarty everybody knows what's coming. What can you do about it?
