Scarlets v Munster
Parc Y Scarlets 3pm Sky Sports 1
Like everyone else, Munster begin the new season as they left off the last one, only away to the same opponents against whom they held their nerve to copperfasten their place in this season’s European Champions Cup and having undergone quite a makeover.
Accordingly, the Rassie Erasmus reign kicks off with eight changes to the starting line-up that finished off last season’s campaign with a bonus point win at Thomond Park.
Injury woes
The new look is typified by their academy centre
Dan Goggin
, who will make his first competitive start, while
Tyler Bleyendaal
– whose had plenty of injury woes of his own – takes over at outhalf from the desperately unfortunate
Johnny Holland
, whose form at the tail-end of last season had helped steer Munster through choppy waters and ought to have meant his time was now.
Although without much of their international contingent, summer tourists Dave Kilcoyne and Donnacha Ryan are also on the bench, while in the absence of CJ Stander, Jack O'Donoghue, of whom so much is expected this season, assumes the number eight jersey. Academy prop Brian Scott and new lock Jean Kleyn are in line for competitive debuts off the bench.
All in all though, Erasmus makes just one change from the starting XV that defeated Worcester Warriors last Friday, with Dave Foley coming into the second row.
Wayne Pivac has named a star-studded line-up, including 11 international players, in his match-day squad, which features a competitive debut for new South African prop Werner Kruger, outhalf Rhys Patchell and Jonathan Evans and former Leinster man Tadhg Beirne off the bench. Lions centre Jonathan Davies is in line to make his return from Clermont Auvergne off the bench.
Munster have not won at Parc y Scarlets in the Pro12 since April 2011.
TEAMS
SCARLETS: L Williams; DTH van der Merwe, S Williams, H Parkes, S Evans; R Patchell, Gareth Davies; D Evans, K Owens (c), W Kruger, J Ball, L Rawlins, A Shingler, J Barclay, J Macleod.
Replacements: R Elias, W Jones, P Edwards, D Bulbring, T Beirne, J Evans, D Jones, J Davies.
MUNSTER: S Zebo; D Sweetnam, D Goggin, R Scannell, R O'Mahony; T Bleyendaal, D Williams; J Cronin, N Scannell, J Ryan; D Foley, B Holland (c); D O'Callaghan, T O'Donnell, J O'Donoghue.
Replacements: K O'Byrne, D Kilcoyne, B Scott, J Kleyn, D Ryan, T O'Leary, I Keatley, C Bohane.
Referee: Lloyd Linton (SRU)
Last three seasons: (2013-14) Munster 16 Scarlets 10; Scarlets 18 Munster 13; (2014-15) Munster 17 Scarlets 6; Scarlets 25 Munster 25; (2015-16) Scarlets 25 Munster 22; Munster 31 Scarlets 15.
Forecast: Scarlets to win.
