BEN HEALY will be the third player to wear the No 10 shirt in as many Rainbow Cup games for Munster as Johann van Graan once again rotates his squad for tomorrow evening’s clash with Connacht.
The Reds are top of the table after their wins over Leinster and Ulster and will be desperate to keep their 100pc record intact with rumours building around the format the final may take.
If their plans come to fruition, organisers hope to play a final between the top teams from the North and South conferences in Italy. Beat Connacht, Cardiff Blues and Zebre and Munster would be the team to represent the European side of the draw.
Despite an impressive performance in victory over Ulster and the prospect of one game in the next three weekends, van Graan has stuck to his commitment to use his squad for this tournament and he has named an impressive-bench.
Healy is partnered by Ireland scrum-half Craig Casey, with Damian de Allende coming in for Rory Scannell to partner Dan Goggin.
Matt Gallagher replaces Mike Haley, with Andrew Conway and Shane Daly continuing on the wings as Keith Earls returns to the bench alongside Joey Carbery and Conor Murray.
Up front, James Cronin, Rhys Marshall and John Ryan come into the front-row, with Jean Kleyn and Billy Holland providing support from the second-row.
In the back-row, CJ Stander’s return sees Gavin Coombes switch to blindside and Peter O’Mahony move to the openside.
That trio will have collectively deal with the power of Connacht’s No 8 Abraham Papali’I who is back in the starting XV after an impressive cameo against Leinster.
After their collapse at home to Leinster last weekend, Andy Friend has made six changes to his pack with Paddy McAllister, Shane Delahunt and Dominic Robertson-McCoy in the front-row, with Ireland international Ultan Dillane partnering Niall Murray in the second-row.
Behind them, Papalii is joined by Cian Prendergast and Conor Oliver who is one of three former Munster players returning to Thomond Park as Sammy Arnold and Alex Wootton man the wings.
Tom Daly captains the team for the first time and coach Friend hailed the Carlow native’s impact on his side.
“Tom Daly’s performances this season have been a real plus for us. He consistently brings a huge level of intensity in both attack and defence, and a consistent run of games has allowed him to go from strength to strength. I know he’ll make an excellent captain tomorrow and lead by example again,” he said.
“We’ve shaken things up a bit in our starting XV with players who deserve a start either through training performances or impacts off the bench. There’s bags of experience among the replacements as well with six centurions so I’m sure they’ll do a job when called upon.”
Munster: Matt Gallagher; Andrew Conway, Dan Goggin, Damian de Allende, Shane Daly; Ben Healy, Craig Casey; James Cronin, Rhys Marshall, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Billy Holland; Gavin Coombes, Peter O'Mahony (CAPT), CJ Stander.
Replacements: Niall Scannell, Dave Kilcoyne, Stephen Archer, Tadhg Beirne, Jack O'Donoghue, Conor Murray, Joey Carbery, Keith Earls.
Connacht: John Porch, Sammy Arnold, Sean O’Brien, Tom Daly (CAPT), Alex Wootton,Conor Fitzgerald, Kieran Marmion, Paddy McAllister, Shane Delahunt, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Niall Murray, Ultan Dillane, Cian Prendergast, Conor Oliver,Abraham Papali’i.
Replacements: Dave Heffernan, Denis Buckley, Finlay Bealham, Eoghan Masterson, Sean Masterson, Caolin Blade, Jack Carty, Peter Sullivan.
Ref: Dan Jones (WRU)
