O’Connell: Experience will count

“There is a lot of experience in the Munster side, at this stage of the competition there is not a lot between the teams but that experience is massive and hopefully we can make that count on Friday night,” said the Munster Captain. “There are a lot of easier draws in this competition than the Scarlets away. They won six out of six, beat Toulouse away and this year they are playing some great rugby.”

Munster will have to do it the hard way if they are to retain the Heineken Cup Trophy; the Scarlets were the second seeds following the Pool stages and Munster were condemned to an away quarter-final by losing at home to Leicester Tigers.

They will be without injured skipper and talisman O’Connell, with Ireland outside half Ronan O’Gara taking over the captaincy role. The winners of this game will be away to either Leicester Tigers or Stade Francais in the semi-finals.

“To be sitting on the sidelines unfortunately is very disappointing,” admitted the Ireland and Lions lock O’Connell. “I think since the disappointment of the home game against Leicester Tigers seven or eight weeks ago this is a game that everyone has been looking forward to so we can put that night behind us.

“Winning the Heineken Cup in Wales was an incredible occasion, a great day. It is something that when we get to the end of our careers we will have fabulously fond memories of, but at the moment it is a distant memory, you just move on and the Leicester Tigers game brought us back down to earth and showed us how hard it is to win this thing, how good you have to be, and how hard you have to want it to have a chance of winning.”

Llanelli Scarlets: B Davies; M Jones, R King, G Evans, D James; S Jones, D Peel; I Thomas, M Rees, D Manu, V Cooper, S MacLeod, S Easterby (capt), G Thomas, A Popham

Replacements: K Owens, J Davies, I Afeaki, D Jones, L Davies, C Thomas, M Watkins


Munster: C Cullen; J Kelly, L Mafi, T Halstead, I Dowling; R O’Gara (capt), P Stringer; M Horan, J Flannery, J Hayes, D O’Callaghan, M O’Driscoll, A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy

Replacements: F Sheahan, F Pucciariello, D Ryan, A Foley, T O’Leary, J Manning, B Murphy

Referee: Chris White (England)