International star Keith Earls is back and Munster have unsurprisingly selected a full-strength squad for their two-match tour of South Africa that starts with their arrival in Cape Town on Wednesday ahead of their first match against the DHL Stormers.
The Irish province end their Vodacom United Rugby Championship campaign with matches against the Stormers and the Cell C Sharks, and the stakes are high for all parties as they have both plenty to gain and plenty to lose. They finish off against the Sharks, who beat them 50-35 at HollywoodBets Kings Park in the Heineken Champions Cup round of 16 tie in their last game.
If they win both games, Munster, who are currently placed fifth on the log, still have a chance of finishing in the top four, meaning they qualify for a home quarterfinal. However, should they lose both games, they could slip to eighth, or even drop out of the playoff bracket. Certainly, qualification for next year’s Champions Cup is doubtful if they don’t win at least one of their games in South Africa.
FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL
The Sharks are currently the eighth-placed team, seven points behind Munster, on 41 points against Munster’s 48. Their other remaining game is against Benetton at HollywoodBets Kings Park on Friday. Should they beat Benetton and then repeat their recent Champions Cup victory in the return against Munster, they could lift to 51 points, and claim the fifth place which will give them an easier passage through the playoffs.
Conversely, defeat could see them still vulnerable to missing out on Europe next season. So it’s a matter of fighting for survival for both teams. From their own survival perspective, Munster just need to win one of their remaining two games to ensure they are out of range of the Sharks, and that is why their game against the tournament champions on Saturday evening is so important. It will mean the following week’s game against the Springbok-laden Sharks will be played with some of the pressure off them.
The Stormers also have a lot to play for. Not only do they need to regain their confidence after the weekend’s disappointing loss to Exeter Chiefs in their first-ever Champions Cup quarterfinal at Sandy Park, but they also need to win to make sure of the second-place finish that will enable them to have a chance of repeating last year’s feat of playing all their playoff fixtures at home.
The Stormers are at this point the only South African team sure of a place in the Finals Series of the competition and also qualification for next season’s Champions Cup. The South African Shield champions for a second year, they are comfortably the best-performing local team in the competition.
However, after losing away like they did to Exeter, they would have been reminded of the importance of being at home for playoff games, and that does considerably up the ante for them on Saturday. On the evidence of the Sandy Park game, their coach John Dobson is going to have to find a way to re-energise them.
STORMERS HAVE GROWN SINCE LAST MUNSTER MEETING
The Stormers lost 34-18 to Munster last year but that was only their second game in the competition. They led at halftime and were in fact dominant in the first half but learned some valuable lessons about playing in Europe subsequent to that. They have grown a lot since September 2021, and of course, they haven’t lost at DHL Stadium since they went down 37-19 to the Emirates Lions in December 2021.
Munster have selected a full-strength squad for the trip to South Africa as they look to arrest the recent slump that started for them with a rather bizarrely one-sided defeat against Glasgow Warriors at their home ground of Thomond Park in their previous URC fixture.
Of course, they went on from there to ship 50 points against the Sharks, so their coach Graham Rowntree should be concerned about aspects of their defensive play as they have conceded a lot of tries in their last two games (three if you include the second half of the game before that against Scarlets, where they won by conceded five tries after halftime).
Earls and Jeremy Loughman have been added to the 31-man Munster squad for their double-header in South Africa.
There are 18 forwards and 13 backs making the trip, with Munster’s 23-man matchday squad to be named on Friday.
Earls, who missed Ireland’s Six Nations run with a calf injury, and Loughman are joined by academy players Mark Donnelly, Edwin Edogbo and Jack Oliver, all of whom have overcome injuries. have been included in the travelling group after overcoming respective injuries.
Following the Champions Cup defeat to the Sharks, Niall Scannell, Roman Salanoa, John Hodnett, and Paddy Patterson were ruled out.
Hooker Danny Sheahan, who was involved for the Ireland U19s in France on Saturday, and recently enjoyed Six Nations Grand Slam success with the Ireland U20s, has also been included in the travelling squad.
While Munster have lost two in a row, they do have a good recent away record in the URC, with their last three away trips resulting in victories. South Africa though and the trip across the equator may pose a more significant challenge for them.