Munster v Crusaders, Saturday, SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, 5pm (tv details)
It seems preposterous that one of the Irish provinces can sell out a friendly of almost 41,000 people on the opening weekend of the Six Nations, but Munster have got the venue and the opposition right to ensure their clash with Crusaders in Cork this Saturday (5pm) is a guaranteed success.
It adds to the surreality of the fixture between the reigning URC and Super Rugby champions that it will be the red of Munster which will be the first to run out at the renamed SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh rather than one of the Cork teams.
But while shifting a Champions Cup out of Thomond Park might take another stretch, this sort of novel fixture in Cork, as much needed by Munster Rugby as Cork GAA, looks like being an annual fixture and Graham Rowntree and his men are hoping it can be as successful and memorable as last season’s win over a South Africa XV which also packed out the venue.
Both teams, as expected, are understrength with Crusaders arriving without their seven World Cup All Blacks, but have new signing Leigh Halfpenny, the former Welsh international, and New Zealand centurion Owen Franks on board.
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Their new coach Rob Penney will also be familiar to the locals, having spent a couple of seasons over a decade ago trying, with some resistance, to bring a more revolutionary approach to Munster’s style of play.
“I’ve still got a lot of time and passion for Munster,” said Penney, who has returned to Crusaders after the latest stint in Japan in charge of their U-20 side and has taken over from new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. “It’s wonderful to be back. It’s actually a little bit emotional, to be fair. And I’m very humbled and honoured to be here representing the place I love the most – but Munster would be a close second!”
Like Penney, Rowntree has a mix of youth and experience on board and he knows this is a great chance for emerging players to experience a big occasion without the restrictive burden of league points or cup advancement.
“There is not the pressure of league points but we have to perform,” said Rowntree. “If we don’t get it right, the scoreline could look stupid. They can score a lot… these boys can play. So we have to be on it, we have to treat it very properly. But certainly the lack of league points changes it.
“I’d say it’s more like a pre-season week because we’ve got lads away, big characters away. We’ve got a lot of young men with the group, which is good because they’re really blossoming as well.”
Munster: S Daly; S O’Brien, A Frisch, A Nankivell, S McCarthy; J Carbery, E Coughlan; J Wycherley, E Clarke, S Archer; G Coombes, F Wycherley; R Quinn, A Kendellen (c), J O’Sullivan. Replacements: S Buckley, M Donnelly, J Ryan, K Nowak, J Daly, D Okeke, N Cronin, T Butler, R Scannell, C Hogan.
Crusaders: L Halfpenny, C Fihaki, L Aumua, D McLeod, M Springer, T Kemara, M Drummond, G Bower, G Bell, O Franks, Q Strange (c), T Cahill, D Gardiner, T Christie, C Grace Replacements: I Moananu, K Sykes-Martin, S Calder, J Hannah, C Lio-Willie, N Hotham, R Reihana, R Crotty, J Southall, H Murray.
Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU)
