Munster travelled to the West of France, this weekend, to face La Rochelle at Stade Marcel Deflandre in a Champions Cup 'Last 16' encounter. It turned out to be a classic.
Our match centre has you covered for all the big moments, best scores, reactions and full Munster player ratings. Click on the key point you want to read about, or just keep scrolling to see updates in our liveblog [below]:
La Rochelle and Munster have, between them, won four Champions Cup titles in the past two decades. Neither side is tearing up trees, this season, but a win on Saturday evening could kick-start a hot streak to end 2024/25.
Ahead of the game, La Rochelle head coach Ronan O'Gara had some bad news for Munster fans harking for his return to the province, in the coming years. Asked if a coaching switch to Munster, in the next two or three years, was likely, O'Gara declared:
I don't think so, no.
I’m with a club, here, that is a massive club – one of the biggest in Europe. Yeah, it’s going through a sticky patch at the minute, without doubt. That happens in cycles; it happens in sport. Once you have an environment and a brains trust that keep wanting to get better, which (chief executive) Pierre Venayre and (chairman) Vincent Merling want to do, it gets me excited to build a squad.
Our La Rochelle vs. Munster liveblog will keep you up to date on all the big selection calls, contentious issues, pundit hot-takes, scores, and our Munster player ratings.
MUNSTER TEAM
Munster Rugby: Thaakir Abrahams; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Seán O’Brien, Andrew Smith; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Diarmuid Barron, Oli Jager; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne (C); Peter O’Mahony, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Niall Scannell, Josh Wycherley, Stephen Archer, Fineen Wycherley, Tom Ahern, Conor Murray, Rory Scannell, Alex Kendellen.
Jack Crowley of Munster after his side's victory in the Investec Champions Cup Pool 3 match against Saracens, at Thomond Park in Limerick. (Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile)
Mike Prendergast on La Rochelle
Ahead of Munster's Investec Champions Cup tie with La Rochelle, coach Mike Prendergast warned that the two-time champions may be wounded, but are still dangerous.
Stade Rochelais have lost 13 of their 24 games, so far, this season and have been badly hit by injuries. "They're at home, they're probably feeling that pain," Prendergast told The Irish Examiner.
"La Rochelle is a small town, you don't get away from it there. As I said to the boys, we, don't want to be the team to give them that confidence so for us, coming off the last week's performance, and as said, even the previous week, there was a lot of good in it as well, so it's really set up."
SEE ALSO: Jack Crowley Explains Why 'Harsh' ROG Criticism Can't Fuel His La Rochelle Performance
Munster player ratings during 2024/25 season
We have scouted around the Munster player ratings for their Champions Cup games, this season.
When Munster lost 16-14 to Castres, there were some harsh ratings from Rugbypass, with Mike Haley and Stephen Archer scoring 4/10. Tadhg Beirne got 7, while John Hodnett top-scored with 8/10.
Beirne got 8/10 after the home win over Saracens, as did South African prop Dian Bleuler, but Haley copped a 5. Although Munster lost to Northampton Saints in their final pool match, Jack Crowley scored 9/10 and there were 8s for Beirne, Bleuler, Alex Kendellen, Conor Murray and Calvin Nash.
