Bath v Munster
The Rec, Saturday, 8pm (Premier Sports)
Once more into the breach, then. The Champions Cup wouldn’t be the same without Munster and nights like this, for as much as any team they ensure colour, atmosphere and a sense of occasion. A first meeting in a quarter of a century under the Saturday night lights in the beautiful heritage town of Bath will showcase that again.
In time-honoured fashion, Munster are cast as 11/2 underdogs away to the reigning English champions and pacesetters, who are led by their former head coach Johann van Graan. The South African has transformed a bottom-of-the-table outfit into treble winners.
Whereas Bath are coming off a fine win, Munster’s momentum from their five-out-of-five start under Clayton McMillan was interrupted by a defeat at home to the Stormers. That setback saw them slip to third in the United Rugby Championship. What’s more, news of Jack Crowley being ruled out has seen the bookies extend the handicap against Munster from 11 to 13 points.
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The 25-year-old suffered an ankle injury just seven seconds into last Saturday’s loss when the opposing flanker Paul de Villiers caught Crowley on his follow-through in attempting a charge-down. Although Crowley completed the 80 minutes, he did not train on Monday and doesn’t make the 23. However, it must be noted that McMillan also has to consider next Saturday’s first Champions Cup game in Cork, against Gloucester.
JJ Hanrahan, who rejoined his native province for a third spell in the close season, will start at outhalf as one of five changes to the starting XV from last weekend. The decision to bring Hanrahan home again looks an even shrewder piece of business now. Taking into account his experience and knowledge of both this competition and English rugby, he could well rise to the occasion and make light of Crowley’s loss. But losing Crowley still seems a blow, especially with little obvious cover at outhalf.
Another summer signing, Dan Kelly, makes his first Champions Cup appearance for Munster, while up front Michael Milne, Jean Kleyn and John Hodnett all return. The recently arrived Michael Ala’alatoa will make his debut from a 6-2 bench also featuring the return of Alex Kendellen, while Lee Barron, Edwin Edogbo and Ruadhán Quinn ought to bring plenty of oomph on their Champions Cup debuts.
Not for the first time in Munster’s fabled history in this competition, they take on the reigning English kingpins. Last Sunday’s 36-29 win away to Saracens returned Bath to their familiar place atop this season’s table after six rounds.
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Munster run into a side who have a very rounded balance of power, kicking, creativity and cutting edge. All of this, plus a huge degree of confidence along with their strength in depth, was on display last week when Bath recovered from a 14-0 deficit away to Saracens. The win was highlighted by an impressive counter-attacking try from deep that showcased their pace and potent maul. It was instigated by Finn Russell’s one-handed reverse pass, followed by a stunning take, run and pass by Max Ojomoh.
No less than Tom Farrell, Ojomoh is on the crest of a wave after scoring one try and creating two others in England’s win over Argentina at Twickenham a fortnight ago. Van Graan has restored him as well as Cameron Redpath in an otherwise unchanged backline, with Russell making is 50th appearance for the club.
Up front, Van Graan has the luxury of rotating the starting England and Springboks tight-heads, Will Stuart and Thomas du Toit. Guy Pepper comes into the backrow and Miles Reid shifts to 8.
Bath are buoyant as both a club and a city, and this week scrum-half Ben Spencer spoke of their ambitions to do something special in the Champions Cup this season.
Against all of this, although the frustration of letting slip a winning position at home is acute, there was much to admire in Munster’s performance last week. Their attack, especially, made good inroads through the middle and on the edges. However, in a familiar refrain recently, Munster’s scrum came under severe pressure after John Dobson replaced six of his pack, including the entire tight five. If anything, Bath’s scrum is even better.
Still, that defeat will likely prompt a big response and a big performance. The pity is that the forecast is horrid as that might suit Bath’s potent pack more, whereas Munster look better served by playing a high-tempo game without being too loose. A night-time kick-off and team of French officials seem to further stack the odds against Munster.
Logic points to a relatively comfortable home win, but Munster don’t do logic. Their collective often adds up to more than the sum of their individual parts. At the least, they’ll make this competitive.
Bath: Tom de Glanville; Joe Cokanasiga, Max Ojomoh, Cameron Redpath, Henry Arundell; Finn Russell, Ben Spencer (capt); Beno Obano, Tom Dunn, Will Stuart, Quinn Roux, Charlie Ewels, Josh Bayliss, Guy Pepper, Miles Reid. Replacements: Kepu Tuipulotu, Francois van Wyk, Thomas du Toit, Ross Molony, Ted Hill, Tom Carr-Smith, Santi Carreras, Sam Underhill.
Munster: Shane Daly; Diarmuid Kilgallen, Tom Farrell, Dan Kelly, Thaakir Abrahams; JJ Hanrahan, Craig Casey; Michael Milne, Diarmuid Barron, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Tom Ahern; Tadhg Beirne (C), John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes. Replacements: Lee Barron, Jeremy Loughman, Michael Ala’alatoa, Edwin Edogbo, Ruadhán Quinn, Ethan Coughlan, Alex Nankivell, Alex Kendellen.
Referee: Jeremy Rozier (Fra)
Forecast: Bath to win
