SCARLETS READY TO FACE MUNSTER NEWCOMERS
Both showed impressive form in the Munster A victory over Edinburgh Gunners A in Murrayfield on Monday last with Dowling scoring the try that gave Munster their narrow (7-5) win. He gets to start on the left wing while former Munster/Ireland U21 O’Leary is named on the bench. Another relative newcomer is Barry Murphy who is named at full-back.
The inclusion of the young players however, is not a daunting prospect for Scarlets boss Gareth Jenkins, who knows his side need to start performing after a slow start to the season.
“We’re under no illusion as to what’s waiting for us but we’re not at all intimidated,” said Jenkins. “A professional side like ours relishes the opportunity to find out where we are.”
John Davies added: “Munster at home are always a tough prospect but we always give them a good game and have had a few memorable battles. It’s a good place to go and test yourself, especially the pack.”
The view at Stradey is that the League is wide open with no one side pulling away.
“Everyone is beatable at the moment,” continued Jenkins. “There are a lot of errors and no one is hitting form.
The problem with skills is that you can’t really test them until you’re playing. It’s about reaction time under pressure, decisions at tempo and you can never create that sort of pressure pre season.
“Every September things get off to a stuttering start and this year is no exception.”
Munster Squad:
John Kelly
Barry Murphy
Trevor Halstead
Rob Henderson
Ian Dowling
Ronan O’Gara
Paul Burke
Frank Murphy
Mike Prendergast
Peter Stringer
Tomas O’Leary
Federico Pucciariello
Marcus Horan
John Hayes
Frank Sheahan
Jerry Flannery
Mick O’Driscoll
Trevor Hogan
Paul O’Connell
Donncha O’Callaghan
Denis Leamy
David Wallace
Alan Quinlan
Anthony Foley
Scarlets:
Lee Byrne
Dafydd James
Matthew Watkins
Regan King
Tal Selley
Mike Hercus
Clive Stuart-Smith
Iestyn Thomas
Aled Gravelle
John Davies
Hottie Louw
Adam Jones
Simon Easterby (capt)
Gavin Thomas
Alix Popham
Replacements:
Dorian Williams
Craig Hawkins
Jonathan Mills
Liam Davies
Gareth Bowen
Darren Daniel
Referee: Andy Ireland (SRU)
