As the festive period looms ever larger, the streets of London are in a constant state of illumination, and as Munster travel to Allianz Park to face Saracens, this is sure to be another spectacle to light up the capital. After last weekend’s slug-fest saw the Irish side come out 10-3 victors, Johann van Graan’s side hold the upper hand in Pool 4, while for Sarries it’s effectively do or die. Team News There is one change to the victorious Munster side from last week as tighthead prop John Ryan comes into the starting XV to make his 150th appearance for the province. The Irish side will still be without the influential Joey Carbery and Tyler Bleyendaal for the trip to NW4, with both players still in the rehabilitation phase from recent injuries. Back row Arno Botha will also miss out after the South African received a three-match ban for leading with his forearm in the dying stages of last week’s clash. Conor Murray and JJ Hanrahan are in the half-backs with James Cronin, Niall Scannell and Ryan named in the front row. Jean Kleyn and Billy Holland continue their partnership at second-row, with the back row of Tadhg Beirne, captain Peter O’Mahony and CJ Stander also remaining unchanged. 📢 TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT The Munster side to face Saracens at Allianz Park tomorrow has been named. With one change to the starting XV, John Ryan starts on his 150th appearance for the province.#SARvMUN #SUAF 🔴 — Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) December 13, 2019 Dan Goggin and Tommy O’Donnell have been drafted into the replacements with Goggin set to make his 50th Munster appearance. Nick McCarthy is in line to make his first Champions Cup appearance for Munster from the bench, while Rory Scannell continues his remarkable run of European appearances. Saturday will be the Cork-man’s 33rd consecutive European appearance, having not missed a match since his debut in November 2015 against Benetton. For Sarries, Mark McCall has rotated his squad once again, with a number of key players returning. Both Mako and Billy Vunipola have been recalled, while Jamie George also comes back into the front row. Nick Tompkins is also back in the starting XV to partner Alex Lozowski in the centre, while Richard Wigglesworth and Owen Farrell are also involved in a strong looking line up for the defending champions. Form Both sides have been their usual dominant selves domestically, with Munster winning five out of seven PRO14 matches to top Conference B, despite a much-changed side going down 18-16 to Edinburgh last time out. Sarries have won four out of five in the Premiership, which would ordinarily see them lie second, but with their well-documented points deduction above their heads, they prop up the table with a negative points total. On the European stage, Munster remain unbeaten so far, with a first round defeat of Ospreys followed by that captivating 21-21 draw with Racing, before last weekend’s success. After tasting defeat at Thomond Park and going down 30-10 in France, Mark McCall knows his side’s chances of retaining the trophy hang in the balance. What they said After a number of crunch clashes in recent years, these two sides know exactly what to expect from each other, and Munster lock Jean Kleyn is looking forward to what Saturday will bring. “It is a good physical challenge. You get to put in some hard hits, and sometimes some hard hits get put into you. It is all good but it is something I enjoy. I enjoyed this weekend’s game and hopefully I will enjoy Saturday’s game. “They are a world-class side, they showed that when they won the Premiership and the European Cup earlier this year. So, you can’t just put it down to size. Their players are skilful and well drilled. They are good players. “It is down to us to keep them out of it now. Realistically speaking they are only five points behind. If we slip up this weekend and we have a poor performance they can come right back in and we could end up third on the log.” With a number of World Cup internationals in his side who are all trying to get back to full fitness after a hectic autumn period, McCall knows qualification will be a hard task after two early losses. “It’s probably out of our hands to a degree. We need to win next week, but we do know Munster have got a tough game against Racing in round five, so there’s definitely hope,” the Saracens head coach said. “Some of our non-internationals who have had a busy eight weeks or so, they’ll get some rest. We’ve just got to try and manage our group as well as we can.” Key Stat If Munster come back from London with the victory, it will be the first time Sarries have lost more than two matches in a European group stage since 2010⁄11. Prediction There will be a lot on the line come 3pm on Saturday at Allianz Park, but with a raft of big game players in their squad, it will be hard to look past Sarries on their own patch. There won’t be much in it, but the reigning champions will want to do themselves justice after a slow start in the competition. With the return of Farrell and a number of their other big-hitters to European competition, this would leave the pool very much in the balance come January. Sarries will take the win, by no more than ten. Teams Saracens: 15. Max Malins, 14. Sean Maitland, 13. Alex Lozowski, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Elliot Daly, 10. Owen Farrell, 9. Richard Wigglesworth, 1. Mako Vunipola, 2. Jamie George, 3. Vincent Koch, 4. Joel Kpoku, 5. George Kruis, 6. Nick Isiekwe, 7. Ben Earl, 8. Billy Vunipola Replacements: 16 Tom Woolstencroft, 17. Richard Barrington, 18. Josh Ibuanokpe, 19. Calum Clark, 20. Jackson Wray, 21. Ben Spencer, 22. Manu Vunipola, 23. Duncan Taylor Munster: 15. Mike Haley, 14. Andrew Conway, 13. Chris Farrell, 12. Rory Scannell, 11. Keith Earls, 10. JJ Hanrahan, 9. Conor Murray, 1. James Cronin, 2. Niall Scannell, 3. John Ryan, 4. Jean Kleyn, 5. Billy Holland, 6. Tadhg Beirne, 7. Peter O’Mahony, 8. CJ Stander Replacements: 16. Kevin O’Byrne, 17. Liam O’Connor, 18. Stephen Archer, 19. Fineen Wycherley, 20. Jack O’Donoghue, 21. Nick McCarthy, 22. Dan Goggin, 23. Tommy O’Donnell
