TOP SEEDS Munster can enjoy a home run in the URC. A win over Ospreys at Thomond Park on Friday (7.35pm) would earn a tilt with Glasgow Wariors/DHL Stormers at the same venue the following weekend, and victory here would ensure home advantage in the final, possibly against Leinster and maybe at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
Can the Reds go the whole way?
“We just take each game as it comes,” answered coach Graham Rowntree.
“I’m immensely proud of the boys as a club. I think we were 11th in early January; we had our injuries around Christmas, and have picked up 44 of a possible 45 points since that Connacht game. That’s some achievement.”
By virtue of some unexpected results, Ospreys are visitors to Limerick.
“Reaching the playoffs was a huge achievement for our boys; it is a big occasion, the stakes are high, and there is no second chance,” stated Ospreys coach Toby Booth.
Rowntree and ‘Boothy’ are well known to each other and there was little between these two sides when they met in the league this season.
Reaching the quarter-final is a great boost for Welsh rugby and the Munster coach will emphasise that his side will have to improve from the performance against Ulster if the holders are to march into their 10th victory in succession.
“We have a lot of respect for what Toby (Booth) has done there,” stated Rowntree. “As a club, what he’s done despite the challenges around availability and budget has to be admired. They’re a sticky team. We had a good battles with them in February or March.”
Injuries rule Tom Aherne (ankle/lower leg), Joey Carbery (thumb), and Rory Scannell (ankle) out for the immediate future.
Elsewhere, there is good news on the injury front for Diarmuid Barron (foot), Josh Wycherley (face), and Antoine Frisch (leg/groin) as the trio have all returned to training.
