THREE wins on the trot is not a bad way to start any competition and Munster head coach Clayton McMillan will be hoping his troops will make it four in a row in the United Rugby Championship (URC) with victory over Leinster at Croke Park this Saturday, 515pm.
The Reds have certainly shown so far that they are capable of standing up to the task and Leinster will not have it all their own way in what is likely to be a close encounter.
The table shows Munster and Stormers as joint leaders on 14 points each, with Leinster eight places behind in tenth place on six points.
It is a must win game for the home side and playing the tie in the home of the GAA may be a plea for their supporters to help them reap crucial points.
They will be boosted by their winning performance against the Sharks, who are in 13th place, thanks to tries from Jamie Osborne, Jimmy O’Brien, Josh van der Flier, Max Deegan, and Gus McCarthy as they ensured the winning bonus point.
Munster v Leinster fixtures never fail to entertain and we can be sure of another inter-provincial battle before an expected 40,000 attendance.
McMillan has mixed around his players for the early matches.
Let’s hope he gets it right again this weekend.
“The changes mean that you lack a little bit of rhythm but the trade-off is that you are getting bodies out there and they are all fighting to get out there the next week,” McMillan told TG4 after the narrow defeat of Edinburgh.
“And at this stage of the season that’s just as important.
“We know that we need to be better but we’ve shown we aren’t going to roll over and die easily so that is hugely encouraging.”
The home 20-19 bonus point win over Edinburgh was secured through a closing quarter try from Fineen Wycherley.
Along with the 23 players engaged with Munster in this outing, there were another 20 in AIL action, the most on a single weekend since 19 players lined out in January 2022.
