Munster Rugby look to home comforts as Cardiff visit Thomond Park

MUNSTER Rugby will look to build on their excellent opening weekend victory over Scarlets when hosting another Welsh side, Cardiff, in their United Rugby Championship fixture at Thomond Park this Saturday, 7.45pm, live on TG4 and Premier Sports 1.

New Munster head coach Clayton McMillan got his tenure off to a winning start as his charges recorded an impressive 34-21 bonus point win over the Welsh region at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday.

The game saw centre Alex Nankivell awarded the BKT Player of the Match accolade after an impressive display. Hooker Niall Scannell earned his 200th cap for Munster in Saturday evening's game, while scrum-half Craig Casey captained the province for the first time.

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Prop Conor Bartley made his first appearance for Munster at this level on Saturday. The 30-year-old, who can play on both sides of the scrum, initially joined Munster on a short-term deal in November 2024. He played his schools rugby with Castletroy College before a one-season spell with Garryowen.

Over the past 10 years, Bartley has been a cornerstone of Young Munster’s front-row, winning three consecutive Bank of Ireland Munster Senior Challenge Cup titles between 2021 and 2023.

Afterwards Munster head coach McMillan was pleased with the side's bonus point win.

McMillan said: “Happy to get the result, I think there was enough there for us to be optimistic about.

“The work that we've put in during pre-season has been worthwhile and also there were some parts of our game that were really good today.

“That will put us in good stead as we move forward.”

A dominant first half saw Munster lead 13-0 at the breakon Saturday, following a try from Craig Casey and eight points from the boot of out-half JJ Hanrahan. Munster pushed on in the second half as they scored three more tries through Mike Haley, Dan Kelly and Tom Ahern to secure the maximum five point haul from the season opener.

Scrum-half Craig Casey captained Munster for the first time in Saturday fixture. Afterwards Casey said: “Awesome. It is a really proud day for myself and my family captaining the side for the first time. Our forwards put in a hell of a shift out there.

"We asked a lot of them during the week to deliver because we knew it would be tough up front and then when the conditions came in it probably got a little bit tougher and they really fronted up, so delighted with them and delighted with the performance.“

Casey said he always expected Scarlets to remain fiercely competitive over the course of the game despite the visitors managing to keep the Welsh side scoreless in the opening half.

“They are at home and they are a quality team. They have a lot to fight for this year, so we knew it was going to be tough and we also had to hang in there at times, so credit to the Scarlets, but I think we were very happy with the pre-season and we wanted not just to talk about it, but put it into action, delighted with that. There is a lot to work on still.”