Munster look to stay unbeaten
Munster will be determined to keep their impressive winning record in this season’s tournament and secure their place in the last eight of the Heineken Cup when they host Castres Olympique.
The Irish province, who lifted European rugby’s biggest prize in 2006 and 2008, have swept all before them in Pool 1 this season and are already favourites to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Castres have only managed one win during this campaign and face a daunting prospect against a side that has won the last 16 Heineken Cup games at ThomondPark.
The French Top 14 side are at the foot of the pool table and have nothing to play for but pride over the next two weekends and will not qualify for the quarterfinals of the tournament.
The teams:
Munster: 15 Denis Hurley, 14 Johne Murphy, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ronan O’Gara, 9 Conor Murray, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Paul O’Connell (captain), 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Denis Fogarty, 17 Marcus Horan, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Donncha O’Callaghan, 20 Billy Holland, 21 Tomas O’Leary, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Danny Barnes.
Castres: 15 Romain Martial, 14 Vincent Inigo, 13 Paul Bonnefond, 12 Pierre-Manuel Garcia, 11 Pierre-Gilles Lakafia, 10 Pierre Bernard, 9 Thierry Lacrampe, 8 Jannie Bornman, 7 Steve Malonga, 6 Yannick Caballero, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Matthias Rolland, 3 Anton Peikrishvili, 2 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 1 Saimone Taumoepeau.
Replacements: 16 Mathieu Bonello, 17 Michaël Coetzee, 18 Karena Wihongi, 19 Scott Murray, 20 Ibrahim Diarra, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 Seremaia Bai, 23 Matthieu Nicolas.
Date: Saturday, January 14
Venue: Thomond Park, Limerick
Kick-off: 15.40 GMT
Referee: Andrew Small (England)
Assistant referees: Tim Wigglesworth (England), Roy Maybank (England)
TMO: Trevor Fisher (England)
