Munster v South Africa 'A' - teams and predictions

MIDWEEK PREVIEW: It has been more than five decades since Munster had the opportunity to host a South African national team.

Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork, the second largest city in Ireland, will have a sell-out crowd of 41,400 – showing how massive the interest in the game is and ensuring the visitors can expect a ‘hostile’ reception.

Thomas du Toit, captain of the South African ‘A’ team, has an intimate knowledge of how disquieting it can be for visitors to run out in front of a passionate Munster crowd and how inspiring it is for the home team.

He had a four-month stint with the Irish province in 2016 and 2017 and readily admits that the Irish province puts a huge emphasis on games like these.

“They will be fired up,” the visiting skipper told @rugby365com, adding: “Cork is a place where some of them live – travelling to Limerick to play.

“There is obviously quite a bit of history behind this venue and the games that are played here.”

He admitted a lot is in favour of Munster, including the weather – with showers and winds gusts of up to 85 kilometres-per-hour predicted.

Du Toit added that the South African players are raring to go. despite the odds against them.

“It is about who can roll with the punches,” Du Toit said about the testing conditions in Cork.

“We are excited about the challenge.

“We were fortunate enough to have had a few training sessions where we experienced that [the conditions].

“The guys really picked it [got used to the conditions] towards the end of the training sessions.

“Fortunately we have some experience of what it is going to be like,” he added.

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Munster coach Graham Rowntree said he is “very excited” about fronting up to a Springbok-laden SA ‘A’ team – a side featuring 14 capped internationals- in front of the province’s biggest home crowd ever.

“The lads are raring to go,” Rowntree said, adding: “We’ve had a good week’s training.

“We’ve had a shortened week, a week off last week – much needed.

“The lads are ready for it and what a historic occasion to be involved in for these men.”

Rowntree knows the challenge his men face, but he believes this challenge can really benefit them

“We’ve got some stuff we want to keep building on, particularly around our attack but we know what we’re going to get from the South Africans, and I don’t mean any disrespect in that statement,” the coach said.

“They’re physical, got a couple of familiar faces in that forward pack and they’ll be very physical.

“It’s always been the same since I’ve ever coached against any South African national team or province, you know what’s coming, deal with it as another challenge.

“So we’ve been dealing with a power game, just coming off a live scrum and maul.”

SA ‘A’ coach Mzwandile Stick said the overriding goal is to get a win, adding that they are ‘aligned’ on the main goal.

The other significant objective is to “give an opportunity” to some fringe players – those youngsters coming through the ranks and a few seasoned campaigners – like Cornal Hendricks and Johan Goosen – who have not been in the Bok set-up for a while.

Amongst the youngsters coming through are some of the country’s most exciting backs – the likes of Suleiman Hartzenberg and Henco van Wyk.

Stick described Munster as a “world-class” side that is “very professional” in how they go about their business of playing the game.

He also touched on Munster’s history against international touring teams – which include a draw (3-all in 1973) and a win (12-0 in 1978) against the All Blacks.

Munster also beat the Wallabies 15-6 in 2010.

However, they have never beaten a South African national team.

“These are important games for Munster,” Stick said, adding: “They always bring their best for these games.

“We will certainly not take them for granted.

“Their history [against touring teams] speaks for itself. We know exactly what awaits us.”

Previous encounters
1951 (Thomond Park) – SA won 11-6
1960 (Musgrave Park) – SA won 9-3
1970 (Thomond Park) – SA won 25-9

Prediction

@rugby365com: South Africa ‘A’ by 7 points

Teams

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Shane Daly, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Paddy Patterson, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (captain), 5 Kiran McDonald, 4 Edwin Edogbo, 3 Roman Salanoa, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Josh Wycherley.
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Liam O’Connor, 18 Keynan Knox, 19 Cian Hurley, 20 Alex Kendellen, 21 Neil Cronin, 22 Patrick Campbell, 23 Malakai Fekitoa.

South Africa ‘A’: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Cornal Hendricks, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Phendulani Buthelezi, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Thomas du Toit (captain), 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Dan du Preez, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Sanele Nohamba, 23 Gianni Lombard.

Date: Thursday, November 10
Venue: Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork
Kick-off: 19.30 (21.30 SA time; 19.30 GMT)
Expected weather: Mostly cloudy with a shower; winds gusting to 85 kph. High of 14°C, low of 7°C
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Sam Grove-White, Ben Blain
TMO: Rowan Kitt

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