Recently retired Munster Rugby stars to be honoured at Thomond Park today

RECENTLY retired Munster Rugby stars Keith Earls and Andrew Conway will take to the pitch at half-time in today's Investec Champions Cup fixture with Bayonne at Thomond Park to allow supporters get the opportunity to show their appreciation for the fantastic contribution they made to the province.

Earls and Conway are guests of honour at the Investec Champions Cup opening round fixture with the French Top 14 side which kicks off at 5.30pm, live on RTE2 TV.

Two huge fan favourites, they are among the best players to ever line out for the province.

Earls retired following his fourth Rugby World Cup with Ireland this year after scoring 64 tries in 202 appearances for Munster since his debut in 2007.

He scored 36 Test tries in 102 Ireland caps and is the only player to have won a clean sweep of Munster Academy Player of the Year (2007), Young Player of the Year (2009) and senior Men’s Player of the Year (2018) awards.

Conway bowed out due to injury last month after an outstanding career that saw him line out for Munster on 150 occasions, scoring 50 tries to become our third-highest try-scorer of all time.

He also scored 15 tries in his 30 Ireland caps, won a Triple Crown and featured in the 2019 Rugby World Cup. He finished the competition as Ireland’s top try-scorer with three tries in as many appearances.

Tadhg Beirne captains the Munster Rugby side for a Munster Rugby side which shows six changes to the starting XV from last week’s win over Glasgow Warriors at Musgrave Park.

There are three Academy players in the squad to face Bayonne with first year winger and Limerick man Shay McCarthy starting on his Champions Cup debut.

MUNSTER RUGBY: 15. Calvin Nash, 14. Shay McCarthy, 13. Alex Nankivell, 12. Rory Scannell, 11. Sean O'Brien, 10. Jack Crowley, 9. Conor Murray, 1. Jeremy Loughman, 2. Scott Buckley, 3. John Ryan, 4. Fineen Wycherley, 5. Tadhg Beirne, 6. Tom Ahern, 7. John Hodnett, 8. Gavin Coombes. Replacements: 16. Eoghan Clarke, 17. Josh Wycherley, 18. Stephen Archer, 19. Jack O'Donoghue, 20. Alex Kendellen, 21. Craig Casey, 22. Tony Butler, 23. Ben O'Connor.

AVIRON BAYONNAIS: 15. Cheikh Tiberghien, 14. Bastien Pourailly, 13. Peyo Muscarditz, 12. Riko Buliruarua, 11. Rémy Baget, 10. Thomas Dolhagaray, 9. Maxime Machenaud, 1. Matis Perchaud, 2. Facundo Bosch, 3. Tevita Tatafu, 4. Denis Marchois, 5. Kote Mikautadze, 6. Pierre Huguet, 7. Baptiste Heguy, 8. Rodrigo Bruni. Replacements: 16. Thomas Acquier, 17. Swan Cormenier, 18. Junior Tagi, 19. Arthur Iturria, 20. Rémi Bourdeau, 21. Gela Aprasidze, 22. Arnaud Erbinartegaray, 23. Tom Spring.