Connacht & Munster look to keep derby run going
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The first round of Guinness PRO14 action in 2019 sees another round of Irish Derbies.
Connacht and Munster head into the New Year off the back of victories over Ulster and Leinster respectively and will look to keep that running when the two sides clash at the Sportsground.
Connacht will feel reasonably confident heading into the clash having won all three of their derby games at the Sportsground last season.
A win for the home team would see them leapfrog Munster in the Conference A standings.
Munster will want to solidify their place in the top end of Conference A and continue to ply the pressure onto Glasgow who they are just two points behind heading into the weekend.
Prop Denis Buckley is set to make his 150th appearance for his province in the clash while there are seven changes to the Munster side that defeated Leinster.
Peter O’Mahony captains the side with Chris Farrell returning from injury and Tommy O’Donnell, Alex Wootton, Alby Mathewson, Jeremy Loughman and Arno Botha also coming into the starting XV.
Last time these two sides met.
A second half surge from Munster saw them claim a convincing 39-13 win over Connacht the last time these two sides met in the Pro14.
They ran in four tries with Andrew Conway, Keith Earls and Conor Murray (2) all getting on the scoreboard before Tom McCartney got a late consolation try for the visitors.
Head to Head
Munster have the upper hand in past fixtures having won 26 of the 32 matches with one draw.
They have scored 81 tries compared to Connacht's 34.
There are a number of intriguing individual head to heads but the battle between Jack Carty and Joey Carbery is definitely one to keep an eye on.
Carty is knocking on the door for a test call-up following a fantastic start to the season while Carbery has been excellent for Munster since changing the blue of Leinster for the red of Munster.
LINEUPS
1⃣5⃣0⃣ Up for Denis Buckley while Peter O'Mahony returns to captain @Munsterrugby #CONvMUN 👉 https://t.co/um2cryaPHO pic.twitter.com/6O0ek9xCBm
— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) January 4, 2019
