Battered Munster head for Belfast in first of two inter-pro derbies

AN injury ravaged Munster Rugby will face their first of two URC inter-pro derbies this Friday night when they make a trip to Belfast to take on Ulster at 7:35pm.

Ian Costello’s side will then face rivals Leinster over the Christmas period on Friday, December 27 at a sold-out Thomond Park. This week's game comes off the back of an extremely testing game in France last weekend during the second round of the

Investec Champions Cup, where Munster not only picked up a loss, they also gained a number of serious injuries which will put more strain on their resources over the next few weeks.

Munster now have six points in the pool standings following their opening weekend bonus point win over Stade Francais. Reflecting on Munster's defeat in Castres on Friday, the province's interim head coach Ian Costello said: “Disappointed, particularly with the first half.

“We overplayed in our own half and put ourselves under pressure and then we kicked away ball which is unlike us and we thought we had them under pressure, so probably fortunate to be 10-7 down at half-time.

“But that probably gave us a lot of belief and a lot of trust to go out in the second and go after it. Some parts of the second half were a lot better but when you give away 17 penalties which we did tonight and our scrum was under pressure.”

A worrying squad update confirmed the inevitable long list of injury concerns, the worst of which is a knee injury to Craig Casey that will force him to have surgery this week and a long time spent on the sidelines.

Thaakir Abrahams suffered a shoulder dislocation and will undergo scans this week to determine the need for surgery.
Dian Bleuler was removed after failing his HIA and is following the return to play protocols. He is not available for selection this week.

Diarmuid Barron passed his HIA and will be monitored this week following a shoulder injury. His availability will be determined later in the week.

Peter O’Mahony suffered a calf contusion and his availability will be assessed later this week. Jean Kleyn is seeing a specialist after suffering a thigh injury last week.

Liam Coombes underwent surgery last week after sustaining a chest muscle injury in AIL action earlier this month and Conor Murray (elbow) remains unavailable.

This is one of the provinces worst injury lists to date, but their opposition on Friday night are not much better.

Ulster are coming off the back of two heavy defeats in the opening rounds of the Champions Cup against Toulouse and Bordeaux and have also posted a heavy injury list with eight of their players unavailable for selection this weekend. 

Ulster Rugby have lost their last two BKT United Rugby Championship matches since beating Ospreys 36-12 at Kingspan Stadium in Round 5.

Ulster have won just one of their last four encounters with fellow Irish provinces, beating Connacht 32-27 at Kingspan Stadium in October.

Munster got the better of their Ulster rivals the last time the sides met with the Treaty men coming away with a 29-24 victory last year.

Friday night's game will be a whole different story though as Ulster will be battling to try and get their season back on track after two devastating defeats.

Both sides sit in the middle of the URC table with Ulster just one position ahead of Munster in tenth place after seven games.
With a worrying amount of injuries on both sides it will be interesting to see how deep both coaches will have to go into their squads, with Academy players proving crucial at times like this in the season.