Preview: Munster v Treviso
Scott Deasy has been named at full-back for an injury-ravaged Munster when they resume the Magners League at home to Treviso.
Scott Deasy has been named at full back for an injury-ravaged Munster when they resume Magners League rugby at home to Treviso on Friday.
It will be his first Magners start of the season although he has come off the bench on three occasions to date and was on the matchday squad for the game against Leinster and the two recent Heineken Cup games.
Other than that Munster name a largely unchanged squad from the one that saw off Toulon last week, the noticeable exception being, Marcus Horan who's ruled out through injury sustained in the gym, captain Denis Leamy who has earned a break having played in six of Munster seven games to date and Niall Ronan who has been equally as busy.
Leamy's place at number eight goes to James Coughlan, try-scorer when he came on as a replacement against Toulon.
Meanwhile, there will be several new faces in Treviso's team to face Munster at Thomond Park on Friday in the sixth round of the Magners League.
The Italians are coming from two Heineken Cup defeats and it will be a tough test against the former European winners for Franco Smith's side.
Amongst the new faces in Smith's line-up are Brendan Williams and Ludovico Nitoglia, while at centre, Andrew Vilk and Ezio Galon will be back. There is also all change at half back with Fabio Semenzato and Kristopher Burton starting.
In the front-row, changes see Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet moving on the right side and Franco Sbaraglini on the left, while Azzurri hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini captains the side.
Second-row is filled by Enrico Pavanello and Valerio Bernabò, while flankers Benjamin Vermaak and Francesco Minto will make their debuts in the Magners League, with the latter also making his official debut in the green and white jersey.
The list is completed by Robert Barbieri as number eight, while hooker Enrico Ceccato and prop Augusto Allori will start back from the bench.
Form: The two teams have met on four previous occasions with Munster easily victorious each time. Munster lead the Magners League after five rounds, and have won their last three home games in all competitions. The Munstermen have a perfect played 10, won 10 record against Italian teams. Benetton Treviso have lost their only two away games this season, at Ospreys in the Magners League and at Perpignan in the European Cup. Italian teams are yet to tally a single league point on their travels in the Magners League this season.
The teams:
Munster: 15 Scott Deasy, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Johne Murphy, 11 Denis Hurley, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 James Coughlan, 7 David Wallace, 6 Alan Quinlan, 5 Donncha Ryan, 4 Mick O'Driscoll, 3 John Hayes, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Darragh Hurley, 18 Tony Buckley, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 Peter O'Mahony, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Paul Warwick, 23 Ivan Dineen
Treviso: 15 Brendan Williams, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Ezio Galon, 12 Andrew Vilk, 11 Benjamin De Jager, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Benjamin Vermaak, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Valerio Bernabò, 4 Enrico Pavanello, 3 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (capt), 1 Franco Sbaraglini.
Replacements: 16 Enrico Ceccato, 17 Augusto Allori, 18 Pedro Di Santo, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Marco Filippucci, 21 Tommaso Benvenuti, 22 Tobias Botes, 23 Simon Picone.
Date: Friday, October 22
Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Venue: Thomond Park
Referee: David Jones (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Paul Haycock, Eanna O'Dowd (both IRFU)
TMO: Dermot Moloney (IRFU)