
Unchanged Munster side for tough Sharks test in South Africa
URC: Sharks v Munster, Kings Park Stadium, 5.30pm, TG4 & Premier Sports 1
Munster
have named an unchanged side for Saturday's URC quarter-final against Sharks at Kings Park in Durban.
Thaakir Abrahams, Calvin Nash and Diarmuid Kilgallen start in the back three.
Alex Nankivell and Tom Farrell, who has started every single game so far this season, continue their centre partnership with Craig Casey and Jack Crowley in the halfbacks.
READ MORE
Michael Milne, Niall Scannell and Stephen Archer pack down in the frontrow with Jean Kleyn and captain Tadhg Beirne in the engine room.
Peter O'Mahony, John Hodnett and Gavin Coombes start in the backrow.
Diarmuid Barron, Josh Wycherley, John Ryan provide the frontrow cover as Tom Ahern and Alex Kendellen complete the forward cover.
Conor Murray, Rory Scannell and Mike Haley are the backline replacements, where Scannell is in line to make his 200th appearance for the province.
It is a tough assignment for Munster, who will come up against a Sharks team with Springbok stars like Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth and Ox Nche.
Sharks:
A Fassi; E Hooker, L Am, A Esterhuizen, M Mapimpi; Jordan Hendrikse, Jaden Hendrikse; O Nche, B Mbonambi, V Koch; E Etzebeth (capt), J Jenkins; J Venter, V Tshituka, S Kolisi.
Replacements:
F Mbatha, N Mchunu, H Jacobs, E Van Heerden, P Buthelezi, B Davids, F Venter, Y Penxe.
Munster Rugby
: T Abrahams; C Nash, T Farrell, A Nankivell, D Kilgallen; J Crowley, C Casey; M Milne, N Scannell, S Archer; J Kleyn, T Beirne (capt); P O'Mahony, J Hodnett, G Coombes.
Replacements
: D Barron, J Wycherley, J Ryan, T Ahern, A Kendellen, C Murray, R Scannell, M Haley.
Referee:
M Adamson (Scotland)
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Irish Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Leinster's Leo Cullen on Sam Prendergast's performance against Scarlets
Leinster boss Leo Cullen was quick to jump to Sam Prendergast's defence following his side's URC quarter-final win over Scarlets. Ireland's Six Nations' out-half has been attracting lots of attention recently and was the subject of stinging criticism about his defence from former Ireland star Shane Horgan in the wake of the Champions Cup semi-final defeat to such as former England out-half Stuart Barnes, praised the Leinster star's ability to attack, to be exciting, and that there was a decade or more of brilliance coming down the the same time and most likely down to that performance against Northampton, Prendergast missed out on Lions squad selection and while Leinster won on Saturday, he was once again down for some flak - and it wasn't about his with his side 15-7 up and three metres from the Scarlets line on the verge of half-time, he fluffed a pass directing it backwards and behind his own defence and from where Scarlets raced down the field and scored. 15-7 became a tricky 15-14.'Sam is a young player and he had some unbelievable moments in the game today and that's not to hype somebody up to the point where we're unrealistic in our expectations," said Cullen."There were probably a couple of penalties there, a number of Scarlet's players offside, no clear release and one of the breakdowns, and then they go the length of the field and score, which is potentially a 14-point swing at half-time.'So you have a young player, just gone 22 recently, and we need to support these guys coming through the system in Leinster, and there's patience and being realistic about what young men can do.'And for us it's just we want to try and nurture talents and most of the guys come through the system here, a few guys add as well, like Jordie Barrett, a big influence, having the likes of RG Snyman coming off the bench. Rabah Slimani, the experience he has as well.'But for the most part it's guys that come through, Academy players that have progressed through the senior team."Still, Leinster had negotiated the hurdle, there was no disastrous Cullen: 'It's great to be still playing knockout rugby at this stage of the season."We've talked about this, it's week by week now. Glasgow and ourselves have had a good look at each other over the last number of weeks, so we know each other pretty well."We will just build a plan now for next week and recover well. We're into June rugby, the season goes on.'The big thing for us is support and genuine excitement. It shouldn't be a drudge, it should be like 'This is amazing, we are in a semi-final, we are getting ready, we are playing the current reigning champions."What we know is that they're kicking the ball quite a bit, even at the end, pinning us back in our end, and I think Glasgow will be doing something similar next week as well."Moreover Glasgow are facing a similar challenge to the one they encountered last season."Last year they won a home quarter-final and came away to Munster to win an away semi-final before they went to South Africa to win an away final.'If you're putting yourself in Glasgow's shoes, what are they like? They're relishing the opportunity to come here but we need to be relishing the opportunity of playing in front of our home fans.'I's great to be in a semi-final again but we take nothing for granted.'We have already lost a semi-final. Everyone was, supporters, staff, trying to look too far ahead so it was a real harsh lesson for us but learning from that and we are excited now.'We know it's going to be hard. We're up against the URC champions who came to Ireland last year to win their semi-final. Hopefully it'll be a great contest."Josh van der Flier is unlikely to make it back for next weekend, there is more likely going to be a precautionary rest not least as Scott Penny did so well when he came Conan and RG Snyman will be ice-packed and stitched up and ready to go, Tadhg Furlong is back training fully while Garry Ringrose may make the picture. Robbie Henshaw is not expected to play again this season but will be moving straight to the Lions in the aftermath. "It looked like it was Josh's hammy," said Cullen of van der Flier's injury, "that's the report, he felt a bit of tightness again, he was struggling to run it off so whether that's back-driven or neuro I don't know."Obviously Scott came in there so the six-two bench worked for us there as Scott was a natural no7 coming off the bench. Scott was good, brought good energy."You are always nervous during the warm up, 'hope one of these backs doesn't go down and cause some complications...".There was also a nod to the attendance, 12,789, which would seem quite low for a URC quarter-final albeit this was a Bank Holiday weekend."Hopefully we have support to come out again in the semi-final and I know we ask a lot of supporters over the course of the season but let's make it a special occasion, a semi-final, let's be better than we were in the last semi-final.'That's our job as coaches, making sure we have a good plan there this week but be genuinely excited by the challenge of it."


The Irish Sun
3 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Rugby legend compares Leinster to ‘Ferrari spreading silage' as he sends warning after ‘rudderless' win over Scarlets
DONNCHA O'CALLAGHAN has compared Leinster to a "Ferrari spreading silage" after their "rudderless" win over Scarlets. Leo Cullen's men set up a Glasgow Warriors with a 2 Leinster beat Scarlets to advance to the URC semi-finals Credit: Seb Daly/Sportsfile 2 Donncha O'Callaghan was critical of their performance Credit: Seb Daly/Sportsfile Aviva Stadium. They were aided by second-half yellow cards shown to Alec Hepburn and Vaea Fifita after the visitors went into the break trailing by just 15-14. However, Donncha O'Callaghan was less than impressed at what he saw from the Irish province, bringing out an unorthodox metaphor to illustrate his point. He told RTE: "It looked rudderless. Read More on Leinster Rugby "As ex-players, we are always really tough on players, but I would say management and coaches need to have a look at the performance there. "You have players like [Jordie] Barrett, one of the greatest player to ever play the game. "You have the likes of Hugo Keenan and James Lowe and all we're seeing at this point in the competition is them kicking the ball. "I know you got to win games an and find a way, but honestly, it's like having Most read in Rugby Union The game played out in front of a miserly attendance of 12,879 at Lansdowne Road . And O'Callaghan added: "It is really frustrating and you can see it with this crowd, like another poor turnout here today. Simon Zebo brutally trolls Rob Kearney after Leinster loss to Northampton "The Aviva is our home. This is where rugby should light up. You should be excited to come here. "You couldn't fault the crowd there for watching that type of rugby and it's a concern for me." Leinster have a quick turnaround to the semi-final, with next Saturday. The Blues beat the Scottish side 13-5 in the URC regular season last month, and also hammered them 52-0 in the And head coach he told RTE: "What we know is that they're kicking the ball quite a bit, even at the end, pinning us back in our end, and I think Glasgow will be doing something similar next week as well. "It's like this time of year now, making sure that we're nailed on for every moment within the game. "I don't think we quite did that today, but it's making sure we recover well now and turn the page quickly, and it's not one of those games that you're going to spend a huge amount of time reviewing."


The Irish Sun
6 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Peter O'Mahony's wife makes feelings clear with dig at Sharks star for ‘bad form' moment that led to Jack Crowley rant
JESSICA O'MAHONY expressed her disappointment at Jaden Hendrikse for a moment that led to a foul-mouthed outburst from Jack Crowley. The Sharks star went down with an apparent cramp after converting a penalty during the Advertisement 3 Jack Crowley was left fuming after a controversial moment during the shoot-out 3 Peter O'Mahony's wife expressed her own frustration Credit: Shaun Roy/Sportsfile 3 She used Instagram to criticise Jaden Hendrikse for going down with an apparent cramp during the shoot-out Due to where he went down, Hendrikse received treatment nearby to where Jack Crowley was due to take the next kick. She took a photo of the scrum-half undergoing treatment alongside the caption: "This guy? Bad form". Despite the potential distraction, Crowley showed his composure to slot the kick between the uprights. Advertisement Read More on Munster Rugby But that did not stop the 24-year-old from It was the culmination of tensions that had bubbled up during the shoot-out. Scannell was the only one of the six to miss as the Sharks ran out 6-4 winners to set up a United Rugby Championship semi-final against the Bulls for June 7. Advertisement Most read in Rugby Union Tensions started when Jaden Hendrikse had words for Jack Crowley after converting his first kick, leading to a warning from referee Mike Adamson. He was at it game after converting his side's third, as he went to ground with a supposed cramp. Jack Crowley lashes out at Sharks coach during Munster's penalty shoot-out loss in URC As Hendrikse was receiving treatment, he was laid nearby to where Crowley was to take the next kick, and even directed a wink at the Ireland international. Despite the potential distraction, Crowley nailed the kick before directing his ire at Sharks coach John Plumtree. Advertisement While it could not be definitively deciphered what he said, he could been seen saying "f*** off" at the end of the exchange. The jostling did not stop there, with Scannell gesturing towards the Sharks sideline after nailing a later kick of his own. Speaking on Premier Sports, former Munster star Alan Quinlan criticised the behaviour of the Sharks sideline. He said: "It's shocking really, the way they're behaving, the people on the sideline there. Advertisement "They're obviously screaming and shouting stuff at the Munster players. "It's obviously not very sportsmanlike. Unlike Rory Scannell there to respond as well."