A BUSY period for Munster continues this Friday night when Emirates Lions of South Africa are visitors to Musgrave Park for the latest URC fixture (kick-off, 7.35pm).
It follows-on from recent derby outings against Leinster and Ulster and just a week out from the huge home Heineken Champions Cup fixture against Northampton Saints at Thomond Park.
Moving towards selecting a team, head coach Graham Rowntree had to take serious note of an IRFU rule that only allows for his international contingent to line-out in seven of the nine matches between the November Series and the upcoming Six Nations Championship.
This explains why Rowntree rested Ireland internationals Tadhg Beirne, Joey Carbery, Craig Casey, and Peter O’Mahony for their recent weekend trip to Belfast.
Munster need to finish the URC with close on 50 points to guarantee participation in next season’s European Cup. Including this weekend, the reds have seven fixtures remaining, the final two of which are in South Africa.
At the weekend, the Lions suffered a heavy 40-8 loss to URC holders Stormers in Cape Town, with the ever-threatening Henco van Wyk scoring their try.
