It may feel like the eyes of the rugby world are on France at the moment, but this weekend, the next generation of Springboks will start the new season when the third edition of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship kicks off across South Africa, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy.
Last season, Munster claimed a thrilling draw in Durban in the final round of the regular season, which set them on a course to win all three of their playoffs away from home to ultimately lift the trophy in Cape Town.
The Munster team that has been named includes academy scrum-half Ethan Coughlan who makes his first start for the province and is one of five Academy players included. Edwin Edogbo also starts with Kieran Ryan, Brian Gleeson and Shay McCarthy in line for their senior debuts off the bench.
Andrew Conway starts on his 150th Munster appearance and features in his first competitive fixture since June 2022 after recovering from a knee injury.
Josh Wycherley will make his 50th Munster appearance in the front row with new signing Alex Nankivell among the replacements after arriving from New Zealand last weekend.
Munster head coach, Andy Kyriacou said: “We want to start well and it starts on Saturday against the Hollywoodbets Sharks at Thomond Park. We know what a challenge the season is, having gone through it last year.
“We are just looking forward to getting going again, having finished as strongly as we did. We pressed pause in May and we pressed play again when the lads came back into pre-season.
“We are still driving for improved performances. We have concentrated on getting better. Graham (Rowntree) is just not prepared to let things stand still. He wants our performances to improve, our skills to get better, our game understanding to get better and the quality of our squad to get better.”
Hollywoodbets Sharks start the season with three games abroad, and head coach John Plumtree, who is back in Durban after a few years coaching in Ireland, New Zealand and Japan, has handed the captaincy to Springbok centre Francois Venter for their tour.
Springboks Coenie Oosthuizen (prop), Francois Hougaard (scrumhalf) and Aphiwe Dyantyi (wing) have been included in the squad, along with former Junior Springbok captain George Cronje (loose forward), who has moved to Durban from Bloemfontein.
Newly appointed captain Francois Venter admits that he is proud of the leadership role he has been entrusted with, and has enjoyed working with the new head coach.
“It’s a massive honour for me to be named tour captain, it comes with a huge responsibility but I’m honoured to be part of this group. Fortunately, we have great leaders who can give me a hand. I just want to give my all for the team.”
On John Plumtree’s philosophy, he explains that it is all about “Getting a higher purpose in the team, that was one of our biggest focus points, and then connection, we’re building something new in the way we play and the way we portray ourselves to the fans."
“Coach John has made a massive impact on everyone, he commands respect and the environment is great. For now, it’s up to us to go out there and perform.”
Teams:
Munster: 1 Josh Wycherley, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 3 Stephen Archer, 4 Edwin Edogbo, 5 Fineen Wycherley, 6 Jack O'Donoghue (c), 7 Alex Kendellen, 8 Gavin Coombes, 9 Ethan Coughlan, 10 Joey Carbery, 11 Calvin Nash, 12 Rory Scannell, 13 Antoine Frisch, 14 Andrew Conway, 15 Shane Daly. Replacements: 16 Scott Buckley, 17 Kieran Ryan, 18 John Ryan, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 Brian Gleeson, 21 Neil Cronin, 22 Alex Nankivell, 23 Shay McCarthy.
Hollywoodbets Sharks: 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 4 Emile van Heerden, 5 Reniel Hugo, 6 James Venter, 7 Phepsi Buthelezi, 8 George Cronje, 9 Cameron Wright, 10 Curwin Bosch, 11 Marnus Potgieter, 12 Francois Venter (c), 13 Murray Koster, 14 Werner Kok, 15 Boeta Chamberlain. Replacements: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Vincent Tshituka, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Lee Mkhabela, 22 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 23 Aphelele Fassi.
