A NEW look Munster will take to the field in Musgrave Park this Friday night as the provincial outfit takes on the Leicester Tigers in the opening game of their warm-up series ahead of their season start.
Denis Leamy, Donnacha Ryan, Ian Dowlingas aswell as squad newcomers, Wian du Preez and Sam Tuitupou are all included in the Munster squad for Friday’s seasonal opener in Musgrave Park (7pm).
Leamy has been out of action since undergoing a knee operation in the aftermath of his impressive display against Perpignan in December while Ryan has been out since February following a shoulder operation and Dowling missed the crucial last games of the season with a knee injury.
All three are in La Manga coming to the end of a week long training camp – they are scheduled to return home tomorrow – that according to coach Tony McGahan has proved hugely beneficial. “In terms of preparation, the facility here in La Manga has been excellent and we’ve managed to get in quality core rugby work along with valuable organisational matters.” he said today speaking during a break in training.”
McGahan named a 26 strong squad for the opening pre-season friendly saying, ” Leicester Tigers on Friday and Gloucester provides us with the ideal opponents ahead of the competitive start to the season.”
“The game against Leicester on Friday will see the return to action of players such as Donnacha Ryan, Denis Leamy and Ian Dowling who missed large parts of last season through injury. We would also expect to see newcomers Sam Tuitupou and Wian du Preez continue their integration into the squad while the opportunity will also arise to expose some of the young talent coming through to top class opposition.”
That young talent that McGahan mentions includes among others, Ian Nagle, Dave Foley, Dave Ryan, Mike Sherry, Peter O’Mahony who impressed in the British & Irish Cup campaign last season, Ireland Under 20 World Cup players Paddy Butler and Simon Zebo and Academy newcomer Corey Hircock recently arrived from Bedford.
Munster Squad (v Leicester Tigers) Denis Hurley, Felix Jones, Ian Dowling, Danny Barnes, Simon Zebo, Scott Deasy, Sam Tuitupou, Corey Hircock, Paul Warwick, Duncan Williams, Conor Murray, Wian du Preez, Dave Ryan, Stephen Archer, Darragh Hurley, Mike Sherry, Denis Fogarty, Billy Holland, Dave Foley, Ian Nagle, Donnacha Ryan, Paddy Butler, Tommy O’Donnell, Peter O’Mahony, James Coughlan, Denis Leamy.
Munster v Leicester Tigers, Friday 20th August, Musgrave Park, 7pm.
Picture from MunsterRugby.ie
