Munster slipped up 10-27 to the Ospreys at Liberty Stadium on Friday evening – their second successive defeat in Wales. With four points for a free weekend still to come, this is a must win game for Munster if they are to keep up their challenge for the Celtic League title.
There is much riding on the outcome of the game for the Scarlets. With European qualification riding on the performance of the team over the next three fixtures, there’s no denying either that a win over the Munstermen tomorrow evening would allow a little more breathing space ahead of the team’s trip to Glasgow on Friday evening.
“We need to win tonight – that’s the reality of our situation,” Scarlets coach Paul Moriarty said starkly. “We can’t discount what the Dragons are capable of and we can’t rely on others – we have to do it ourselves and that means winning both tomorrow night at Stradey – and away against Glasgow later in the week.”
However, as the team anticipate the arrival of a full strength Munster side to Stradey Park, that all important win may not be the simplest of tasks to complete.
“The Munster challenge is huge, they’re not going to want to enter into their Heineken Cup final on the back of two defeats and they’ll come to Stradey tomorrow night fully intent on walking away with the win,” continued Moriaty. “But we cant let that anticipation crowd our game – our focus needs to be on our own game if we are to keep hold of the situation and prevent the little mistakes which have stifled our performance all season keep us away from the all important win.”
The two sides have clashed on six previous occasions in Celtic League and Celtic Cup with honours even at three wins apiece. The Munstermen have not won at Stradey Park since a 20-13 victory over Llanelli RFC in the Celtic League on 31 August 2002.
Scarlets
1 – Iestyn Thomas, 2 – Matthew Rees, 3 – Craig Dunlea, 4 – Vernon Cooper (captain), 5 – Hottie Louw, 6 – ‘Inoke Afeaki, 7 – Dafydd Jones, 8 – Alix Popham, 9 – Clive Stuart-Smith, 10 – Craig Evans, 11 – Mark Jones, 12 – Gavin Evans, 13 – Regan King, 14 – Garan Evans, 15 – Lee Byrne
Replacements: 16 – John Davies, 17 – Aled Gravelle, 18 – Adam Jones, 19 – Phil John, 20 – Jon Mills, 21 – Dwayne Peel, 22 – Paul Mackey
Munster
1 – Eugene McGovern, 2 – Pat Humphreys, 3 – Federico Pucciariello, 4 – Trevor Hogan, 5 – Mick O’Driscoll, 6 – Denis Leamy, 7 – Stephen Keogh, 8 – John O’Sullivan, 9 – Peter Stringer, 10 – Jeremy Manning, 11 – Ian Dowling, 12 – Mossie Lawlor, 13 – Tomas O’Leary, 14 – Anthony Horgan, 15 – Denis Hurley
Replacements: 16 – Tim Ryan, 17 – Damien Varley, 18 – Donncha O’Callaghan, 19 – Alan Quinlan, 20 – Mike Prendergast, 21 – Paul Burke, 22 – Mike Mullins
