There’s Some Team News Coming Out Of France That Will Delight Munster Fans

Munster travel to Paris this weekend for their rescheduled Champions Cup clash with Racing 92.

The original game was supposed to open up both team’s accounts in the competition back in October but was postponed understandably due to the untimely death of Munster head coach Anthony Foley.

Going into that original game Munster were massive underdogs. The province has struggled in Europe for the last number of seasons, while Racing were coming off the back of winning the Top 14 and narrowly missing out on winning the Champions Cup after losing the final to Saracens.

What a difference a few months can make in rugby however. Munster are top of the PRO12 and locked in a two-way battle with Glasgow for top spot in the group and a home quarter final, while Racing have lost all three of their games and already out of the competition.

Munster suffered a similar fate in the competition last year, which goes to show how things can be flipped on their heads in our sport in just a matter of months. As a result of their standings, Racing are now understandably shifting their focus over to retaining their Top 14 title.

French media sources are reporting that Racing are likely to go into this weekend’s clash without Dan Carter, Maxime Machenaud and captain Dimitri Szarzewski. French international Remi Tales is definitely out after he was de-registered from the European squad.

Munster go into the game with Darren Sweetnam out and Tommy O’Donnell doubtful. Other than that it’s all guns blazing.