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Season so far
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Munster Rugby No.8 CJ Stander
Munster Rugby will be going all out for a bonus-point victory in their Heineken Champions Cup Round 6 home match against Ospreys on Sunday – but even that may not be enough to qualify for the last eight for the fourth successive season.
They currently lie third in Pool 4 – three points behind Saracens, who entertain pool winners Racing 92 in Sunday’s other fixture in the section.
Key facts
- Munster have won five of their six Heineken Champions Cup games against Ospreys, including their last three home games against the Welsh region.
- Munster are unbeaten in their last 14 home games in the competition.
- Munster have kicked more penalty goals than any other side in the tournament this season (13).
"One of my favourite Osprey moments would have to be in 2006 when we faced Sale. We scored a try after 20 odd phases into injury time. I had a kick to win it and I got it! That was the moment that kickstarted my Ospreys journey" – @hookjameshook #OurBloodIsBlack #ItsInOurDNA pic.twitter.com/4tq75wHM00
— Ospreys (@ospreys) January 13, 2020
Limerick , Ireland - 19 January 2020; Mike Haley of Munster is tackled by Dan Evans of Ospreys during the Heineken Champions Cup Pool 4 Round 6 match between Munster and Ospreys at Thomond Park in Limerick. (Photo By Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Munster may have failed to qualify for the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-finals but they finished this season’s campaign in style with a bonus-point victory over winless Ospreys in Pool 4.
Ospreys initially took a six-point lead thanks to a couple of Luke Price penalties but the hosts took control after the half-hour mark.
CJ Stander firstly burrowed over the line for the game’s opening try, with JJ Hanrahan converting. Right on the half-time whistle, Stephen Archer touched down at the base of the right-hand post, giving Hanrahan a simple task with the boot.
An early injury to wing Andrew Conway was the only fly in the ointment for the hosts – and Ireland – ahead of the Six Nations.
Conor Murray crossed for Munster’s third on 47 minutes and after Rory Scannell inexplicably dropped the ball when touching down what should have been a fourth try, Munster did claim a further five points through youngster Craig Casey’s first ever try for the club.
European debutant Jack O’Sullivan and Calvin Nash almost added a fifth, but that honour in the end went to CJ Stander, getting his second of the game after peeling off the back of a surging scrum.
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