Munster v Argentina XV, Thomond Park, 5pm, live on Access Munster
Munster has a lengthy treasure trove of encounters with touring international sides and while this Saturday’s clash with Argentina XV at Thomond Park (5pm) will be well down the list compared to battles with All Blacks, Wallabies and South African sides, it will represent a big day the three young men poised to don the famous red jersey for the first time.
All the more pity then that a better slot – surely Friday night would have been better? – could not have been found rather than playing a game that will be just about finishing before Ireland kick off one of their biggest fixtures in years against New Zealand in Chicago.
The sell-out 41,400 clash with South Africa XV in Páirc Uí Chaoimh three years ago was more in keeping with the fabled encounters down through the years, but Munster have also gleaned a lot from their less glamorous fixtures, including the likes of the Maori All Blacks, Crusaders and last year’s encounter with an All Blacks XV which was coached by Clayton McMillan.
McMillan is now in the home dugout for this game and knows there is something special about these sort of games for Munster.
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“It’s a huge honour,” said McMillan. “Something that we’ve talked a lot about over the last couple of training days, how privileged we are at Munster over the last two or three years, [to] have had the opportunity to play an international fixture.
“It’s not something that would be commonplace and we don’t want to count our chickens before they hatch and expect that these opportunities are going to always continue to be there. So you respect the game, fully embrace it. While there’s no pressure to go and accumulate points, we still want to put pressure on ourselves around putting in a performance that we can be proud of.
“There’s individual pressure around trying to put your best foot forward so that you stake a claim for the next block of competition games. There’s some pressure to live up to the rich history of Munster teams doing really well against the touring international side. By no means [are we] looking at this as a festival match ... we’re treating it seriously, but also recognising that it is slightly different and there is opportunity to go and express yourself.”
He will start one debutant and spring two more off the bench in a side which will be skippered by Jack O’Donoghue, who is one of just four survivors from the side which defeated Connacht to extend their winning run at the start of the URC campaign to five games.
Lock Conor Ryan, who came up through the ranks in Clonakilty RFC and then UCC, will make his debut in the second row alongside Evan O’Connell, who returned to action last weekend off the bench against Connacht for his first action of the season.
Two Limerick natives are also set for their bow. Hooker Max Clein is a product of Garryowen RFC and Crescent College, while backrower Luke Murphy has followed another familiar pathway through Ardscoil Rís and Shannon RFC.
Two other players, outside centre Fionn Gibbons (formerly Castleknock College and now Young Munster RFC) and tighthead Ronan Foxe (a product of Midland Warriors and Tullamore RFC) are poised for their first starts after making two and six appearances respectively off the bench.
This clash with the Argentinian XV will be the first since they drew 3-3 with the Pumas at Musgrave Park in 1973 with a team which included last year’s Munster branch president Brendan Foley, just a day after his son Anthony ‘Axel’ Foley was born.
Munster: M Haley; D Kilgallen, F Gibbons, S O’Brien, S McCarthy; T Butler, P Patterson; J Wycherley, L Barron, R Foxe; C Ryan, E O’Connell; J O’Donoghue (capt), R Quinn, G Coombes. Replacements: M Clein, M Donnelly, K Ryan, F Wycherley, L Murphy, J O’Riordan, JJ Hanrahan, B O’Connor.
Argentina XV: T Wade; S Pernas, L Gea Salim, F Sánchez Valarolo, M Soler; J Hernandez, A Sugasti; M Medrano, L Oviedo, F Moreno; L Simes, F Albrisi; N D’amorim, A Bildosola, JC Perez Rachel (capt). Replacements: J M Vivas, D Correa, O Filippa, L Colidio, J P Bernasconi, E Pregot, B Farise, A Fraga.
