The Fidelity Securedrive Lions already secured their place in the URC Top Eight and can still secure a home quarter-final for the first time in the cross-hemisphere series when they line up against Munster at Thomond Park in the closing match of the round on Saturday night at 20:45 (SA Time) in Limerick.
They will be determined to put their frustrating defeat against Leinster last week behind them, which brought their six-match winning run to an end, and regain their winning momentum, especially with a likely quarter-final coming up.
The Fidelity Securedrive Lions will enter the final round with the second-best attack in the competition, which has seen them score 143 points more than Munster, but they will be mindful of the fact that the Irishmen have conceded 90 points fewer and have a favourable home win record.
The hosts will also want to make amends for their disappointing defeat against Connacht last week, paving the way for an epic encounter.
Niall Scannell and John Ryan are included in the Munster matchday squad for what may be their final appearances at Thomond Park. The duo are retiring at the end of the campaign after making huge contributions to Munster Rugby. Scannell has made 210 appearances for Munster and earned 20 Ireland caps with Ryan playing 256 games for his province, earning 24 Ireland caps.
Craig Casey captains Munster at Thomond Park for the first time.
There are five changes to the team that faced Connacht as Seán O’Brien and Jack Crowley come into the backline with Niall Scannell, Jack O’Donoghue and Brian Gleeson starting in the pack.
Mike Haley, Andrew Smith and O’Brien start in the back three with an unchanged centre partnership of Dan Kelly and Alex Nankivell.
Casey and Crowley partner up in the half-backs.
Jeremy Loughman, Scannell and Michael Ala’alatoa pack down in the front row with Tom Ahern and Fineen Wycherley in the engine room.
O’Donoghue, John Hodnett and Gleeson complete the starting XV.
Diarmuid Barron, Josh Wycherley and Ryan provide the front row back-up as Evan O’Connell, Gavin Coombes and Alex Kendellen complete the forward cover.
Academy scrum-half Ben O’Donovan and JJ Hanrahan are the backline replacements.
On the back of a spirited effort against Leinster last weekend, Fidelity SecureDrive Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen has tweaked his match 23 slightly, amongst them being forced changes.
Sebastian Lombard starts at tighthead prop in place of Asenathi Ntlabakanye after news broke of his unavailability due to a ban issued by doping authorities this week. Lock Etienne Oosthuizen misses out this week, with Darrien Landsberg partnering with Reinhard Nothnagel in the second row.
Changes in the back row see the abrasive Batho Hlekani start in the number 7 jersey after a knee injury ruled out Springbok Ruan Venter in the early minutes at the Aviva last week. Hlekani slots into a dynamic loose trio which consists of breakout star Siba Mahashe and team captain Francke Horn.
A singular change in the backline sees Kelly Mpeku start on the right wing after coming off the bench last week.
Teams:
Munster Rugby: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Andrew Smith, 13 Alex Nankivell, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Seán O’Brien, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Brian Gleeson, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Jack O’Donoghue, 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Tom Ahern, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Jeremy Loughman. Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 John Ryan, 19 Evan O’Connell, 20 Gavin Coombes, 21 Ben O’Donovan, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Alex Kendellen.
Fidelity SecureDrive Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Richard Kriel, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Batho Hlekani, 6 Siba Mahashe, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Reinhard Nothnagel, 3 Sebastian Lombard, 2 PJ Botha, 1 SJ Kotze. Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Siba Qoma, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Haashim Pead, 23 Rynhardt Jonker.