There has been something of a budding rivalry between Munster and Edinburgh in recent seasons and that continues at Irish Independent Park on Friday evening. The Irish province have twice narrowly beaten the team from the Scottish capital in knockout encounters over the past couple of campaigns. The first of those was in the Guinness PRO14 Final Series two seasons ago at Thomond Park, Munster edging home 20-16, before they came from behind to win a European quarter-final at BT Murrayfield last year. Now the two teams find themselves together in Conference B, and with just five points separating the top four, the race for a Final Series place is tight. Conference B leaders Munster have only lost once, in any competition, this season but Edinburgh have also started strongly and welcome back Scotland stars Stuart McInally and Hamish Watson for the clash. Munster have largely put their faith in homegrown youth, with 11 of the starting XV products of the club’s academy, including Ben Healy making his first Guinness PRO14 start at fly-half. Kick-off: At Irish Independent Park, Cork | KO 19:35, Friday 30 November How to watch: Live on Premier Sports 2, eir sport 1, SuperSport 1, DAZN, PRO14.tv Players to watch out for: Ben Healy (Munster), Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh) Ben Healy gets something of a trial by fire for his Guinness PRO14 debut, with Richard Cockerill’s impressive Edinburgh team coming to town, but the fly-half was an Under-20s Six Nations Grand Slam winner with Ireland last year and is highly thought of by the province. Games against Edinburgh have traditionally been tight affairs, so if he’s trusted from the tee then his goal-kicking could be crucial, although veteran JJ Hanrahan is available as a bench option. Meanwhile, Edinburgh will be hoping for more of the same from Duhan van der Merwe who has made a strong, try-scoring start to the season and has notched a double in two of his last three games against Munster. Key stat: Munster have not lost at home since Leinster beat them at Thomond Park in December 2017 and have not been defeated in Cork since Cardiff Blues were the visitors in September 2016. Munster: Shane Daly; Calvin Nash, Sammy Arnold, Dan Goggin, Alex Wootton; Ben Healy, Nick McCarthy; Liam O’Connor, Rhys Marshall, Stephen Archer; Fineen Wycherley, Darren O’Shea; Jack O’Donoghue © Tommy O’Donnell, Arno Botha. Replacements: Kevin O’Byrne, James Cronin, Keynan Knox, Jed Holloway, Conor Oliver, Neil Cronin, JJ Hanrahan, Rory Scannell. Edinburgh: Blair Kinghorn, Eroni Sau, Mark Bennett, Matt Scott, Duhan van der Merwe, Jaco van der Walt, Henry Pyrgos ©, Pierre Schoeman, Stuart McInally, Pietro Ceccarelli, Ben Toolis, Grant Gilchrist, Magnus Bradbury, Hamish Watson, Viliame Mata Replacements: Michael Willemse, Rory Sutherland, Simon Berghan, Leiws Carmichael, Ally Miller, Charlie Shiel, Simon Hickey, George Taylor Cardiff City Stadium will play host to the 2020 Guinness PRO14 Final on June 20 as one of the most exciting days in the club rugby calendar comes to Wales! General sale tickets are available from http://bit.ly/PRO14Cardiff2020 and prices start at just £13 for concessions and £26 for adults (subject to booking fees), that’s a 15% early bird discount. Family ticket (2 adults / 2 children) prices begin at £64 and fans are encouraged to buy early to get the best value tickets.
