Munster will host the Stormers tonight @ 20h35 in Limerick at the Thomond Park stadium. It will be Munster's second fixture at home in the United Rugby Championship 2021.
A rusty Munster outfit was much too strong for the Sharks and although they were seriously sloppy in the first half, the Red Army still romped to a 42-17 win and John Dobson’s charges can expect a better version of the star-studded side today.
The Stormers will be kicking themselves for letting victory slip through their fingers in Treviso. The normally unpenetrable defence of the Stormers that served them so well when in the first half let them down in the last 40 minutes with Benetton coming back to clinch a 22-18 win.
They’ll have an ally the Durbanites didn’t in the rain. A cold, wet clash at Thomond Park is no picnic but it’s the lesser of two evils. If they gave Munster the amount of ball they gave Benetton under clear skies it would’ve been ugly. Now, at least, conditions will dilute a lot of the hosts’ dangers.
The Stormers will have to overcome the forward onslaught from Munster and overcome their major lineout woes last weekend.
Muster must be the favourites, however, the rain and luck could make it interesting.
The Munster team to face DHL Stormers show four changes. There are three changes in the backline as Calvin Nash and Shane Daly start on either flank with Keith Earls drafted in at outside centre.
the only change in the forward pack sees Keynan Knox start at tighthead prop.
Mike Haley starts at full-back with Nash and Daly completing the back three.
Rory Scannell keeps his place at the inside centre as Earls starts at 13 for the first time since January 2018.
Craig Casey and Joey Carbery continue their half-back partnership.
Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell and Knox pack down in the front row with Jean Kleyn and Fineen Wycherley in the engine room.
Captain Peter O’Mahony, Jack O’Donoghue and Gavin Coombes complete the starting XV.
Stephen Archer and Jack O’Sullivan are in line to make their first appearances of the season off the bench.
RG Snyman and Simon Zebo are also among the replacements with Zebo set to make his 100th appearance in the league for Munster.
Lock Adre Smith and scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer will make their first starts for the DHL Stormers.
There are six changes in total to the DHL Stormers starting line-up for the Round Two clash.
Veteran prop Brok Harris will earn his 94th DHL Stormers cap in his first appearance for the team since 2014, having made over 100 appearances for the Dragons in between.
Smith joins captain Salmaan Moerat in the second row, while Nama Xaba starts at openside flank in place of the injured Deon Fourie.
Ungerer partners flyhalf Manie Libbok while Dan du Plessis is at centre and Leolin Zas starts on the left wing in the three backline changes
DHL Stormers Head Coach John Dobson said that his team are determined to rise to the challenge on Saturday.
“These are the sorts of games that every player wants to be involved in, so our players will leave it all out there this weekend.
“We will have to be accurate in our execution in all areas against a good Munster side and we are excited to see what the players coming in can add,” he said.
Munster: 15. Mike Haley, 14. Calvin Nash, 13. Keith Earls, 12. Rory Scannell, 11. Shane Daly, 10. Joey Carbery, 9. Craig Casey, 8. Gavin Coombes, 7. Jack O’Donoghue, 6. Peter O’Mahony (c), 5. Fineen Wycherley, 4. Jean Kleyn, 3. Keynan Knox, 2. Niall Scannell, 1. Dave Kilcoyne. Replacements: 16. Diarmuid Barron, 17. Jeremy Loughman, 18. Stephen Archer, 19. RG Snyman, 20. Jack O’Sullivan, 21. Rowan Osborne, 22. Ben Healy, 23. Simon Zebo.
DHL Stormers: 15. Warrick Gelant, 14. Sergeal Petersen, 13. Ruhan Nel, 12. Dan du Plessis, 11. Leolin Zas, 10. Manie Libbok, 9. Stefan Ungerer, 8. Evan Roos, 7. Willie Engelbrecht, 6. Nama Xaba, 5. Salmaan Moerat, 4. Adre Smith, 3. Neethling Fouche, 2. Scarra Ntubeni, 1. Brok Harris. Replacements: 16. Andre-Hugo Venter, 17. Leon Lyons, 18. Sazi Sandi, 19. Ernst van Rhyn, 20. Marcel Theunissen, 21. Godlen Masimla, 22. Tim Swiel, 23. Rikus Pretorius.