Match Preview: Munster

• 17 February 2021
• Previews

​Get the latest ahead of Saturday night's (20 February) Guinness PRO14 clash with Conference B leaders Munster at BT Murrayfield with this week's Match Preview.

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HOW TO WATCH

The match is live on Premier Sports 1 from 7pm ahead of a 7.35pm kick-off at BT Murrayfield. You can can also keep up with minute-by-minute updates via the Galbraith Match Centre, or listen in live on BBC Radio Scotland.

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT

The Edinburgh Rugby squad to face Munster at BT Murrayfield will be named at 12 noon on Friday 19 February via press release, as well as on the club's website and social channels.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU, 50^th competition game)

Assistant Referees: Sam Grove-White, David Sutherland (both SRU)

TMO: Neil Paterson (SRU)

OVERALL PRO14 RECORD

Played 35, Edinburgh won 8, Munster won 27.

STORY OF THE MATCH

Edinburgh have won two of their last three in the Guinness PRO14 and will still be targeting a top-three finish with them trailing Cardiff by seven points but with two games in hand.

Munster can take a step closer to reaching their first PRO14 final since 2017 should they leave the Scottish capital victorious.

With a 10-point lead in Conference B, Munster will look to continue their fine form on the road having lost just once in any competition since September.

Saturday's night's match-up is the first contest between the two sides at BT Murrayfield since the two sides met in the Heineken Champions Cup Quarter-Final in March, 2019.

LAST TIME OUT

Richard Cockerill's side travelled to face Munster at Thomond Park in October where CJ Stander's try four minutes from time edged a 25-23 thriller in Limerick.

RECENT MEETINGS

Date	Venue	E	M	Edinburgh scorers	Munster scorers
Fri 3 Feb 17	Myreside	9	10	Jason Tovey(3P)	Tyler Bleyendaal(C/P) Ronan O'Mahony(T)
Fri 16 Mar 18	BT Murrayfield	12	6	Duhan van der Merwe(2T) Jaco van der Walt(C)	JJ Hanrahan(2P)
Sat 5 May 18	Thomond Park	16	20	Nathan Fowles(T) Jaco van der Walt(C) Sam Hidalgo-Clyne(3P)	Rhys Marshall(T) Keith Earls(T) JJ Hanrahan(2C/2P)
Fri 30 Nov 18	Musgrave Park	14	44	Duhan van der Merwe(2T) Jaco van der Walt(C) Jason Baggott(C)	Chris Farrell(2T) Andrew Conway(2T) Tyler Bleyendaal(T) Keith Earls(3T) JJ Hanrahan(2C)
Fri 29 Nov 19	Musgrave Park	18	16	Jaco van der Walt(C/P) Matt Scott(T) Simon Hickey(P) Eroni Sau(T)	Ben Healy(C/3P) Tommy O'Donnell(T)
Sat 10 Oct 20	Thomond Park	23	25	Jaco van der Walt(2C/2P) Willem Nel(T) Mark Bennett(T/P)	CJ Stander(T) Ben Healy(C/6P)

KEY STATS

Edinburgh Rugby’s only defeat in any competition since December was by a single point to Glasgow at Scotstoun on 16 January.

Edinburgh have won two of their last three PRO14 fixtures played at BT Murrayfield.

Edinburgh have lost all five matches against Irish provinces since rugby resumed in August.

Munster’s last six defeats in the Guinness PRO14 have all been to fellow Irish provinces. Their most recent reversal to a team from another country was when they entertained today’s adversaries, Edinburgh, in Cork in November 2019.

The Munstermen have lost just once away from home in any tournament since September: 10-15 at Ulster on 2 January.

Edinburgh have beaten Munster once since March 2018: 18-16 in Cork in November 2019.

Munster have won on three of their last four visits to BT Murrayfield in the Guinness PRO14

TEAM COMPARISON

COMPARISON	Edinburgh	Munster
Last 3 PRO14 results:	2 Jan - Glasgow (H) W 10-7	9 Jan - Connacht (A) W 16-10
	16 Jan - Glasgow (A) L 22-23	23 Jan - Leinster (H) L 10-13
	23 Jan - Zebre (A) W 26-10	30 Jan - Benetton (A) W 18-16
PRO14 2019/20	Conf B: 5th - W4 D0 L6 - 19pts	Conf B: 1st - W9 D0 L2 - 42pts
PRO14 form	WlLWlw (13pts)	wWlwLw (20pts)
Top try scorer	2 - Mark Bennett, Nic Groom, Jack Blain, Jamie Farndale, Mike Willemse	6 - Gavin Coombes
Top points scorer	51 - Jaco van der Walt	62 - Ben Healy