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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Oisin Doherty

URC team news - Darragh Murray in line for first home start, Johnny Sexton out and Ben Healy starts at fly-half

It's another busy weekend in the URC with all four Irish provinces in action.

Munster welcome Emirates Lions to Musgrave Park on Friday night, with Ben Healy set to start despite confirmation that he will depart the province at the end of the season.

Healy will link up with Mike Blair's Edinburgh at the end of this season having signed a two year-deal with the Scottish side. He returns to the Munster starting XV this week, with both Joey Carbery and Jack Crowley rested.

READ MORE: Connacht star Darragh Murray to cut off iconic mullet for cancer charity

Jack O'Donahue captains the side in his 15th appearance of the season and will wear the number six shirt. Liam Coombes returns to the wing and will make his first Munster start since September.

Leinster were once again victorious last week when they welcomed Connacht to the RDS. That 41-12 victory gave Leinster their 11th win of the season solidifying their status as the top team in the URC.

Harry Byrne makes his first start of the season as Leo Cullen's men travel to face Ospreys in Swansea. In total, the Leinster boss has made 10 changes to the starting XV that hammered Connacht last time out.

Johnny Sexton is absent from this one. He suffered a facial injury against Connacht and underwent surgery to repair the damage earlier this week.

Leinster’s Johnny Sexton injured before being replaced (©INPHO/James Crombie)

Ulster head to Treviso looking to bounce back from last week's agonising home defeat to Graham Rowntree's Munster. Rob Baloucoune will make his 50th appearance for Dan McFarland's side when he takes to the field in Italy on Saturday.

Iain Henderson skippers the side from the engine room, While Eric O’Sullivan starts at loosehead and Rob Herring at hooker.

There will be no Marty Moore this week or in the foreseeable future for Ulster, with the prop having suffered what is being described as a 'serious knee injury' at Kingspan Stadium a week ago.

13th placed Connacht face a tough task when they welcome Cell C Sharks to the Sportsground on Saturday. The sides last met in Durban in the Spring of 2022, with the South African Giants romping to victory on a scoreline of 41-21.

Darragh Murray will make his first home start for Connacht. He will however be without his famed mullet after the 21-year-old revealed that he is shaving off his long hair in support of the LauraLynn Children's hospice charity.

Darragh Murray of Connacht (Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ben Brady)

Bealham joins an all-new front row of Denis Buckley and Shane Delahunt. Mack Hansen starts on the wing, with Jack Carty and Kieran Marmion forming their familiar half-back partnership once more.

Munster Team to play Lions - Friday 7.35

15. Mike Haley, 14. Shane Daly, 13. Malakai Fekitoa, 12. Rory Scannell, 11. Liam Coombes, 10. Ben Healy, 9. Paddy Patterson, 1. Josh Wycherley, 2. Diarmuid Barron, 3. Roman Salanoa, 4. Jean Kleyn, 5. Gavin Coombes, 6. Jack O’Donoghue (C), 7. John Hodnett, 8. Alex Kendellen.

Replacements

16. Scott Buckley, 17. Dave Kilcoyne, 18. Stephen Archer, 19. Cian Hurley, 20. Jack O’Sullivan, 21. Conor Murray, 22. Dan Goggin, 23. Patrick Campbell.

Leinster team to play Ospreys - Saturday 7.35

15. Hugo Keenan, 14. Jordan Larmour ,13. Jamie Osborne, 12. Charlie Ngatai, 11. Jimmy O’Brien, 10. Harry Byrne, 9. Cormac Foley, 1. Cian Healy, 2. Dan Sheehan, 3. Michael Ala’alatoa, 4. Ross Molony, 5. Brian Deeny, 6. Rhys Ruddock, 7. Scott Penny, 8. Jack Conan.

Replacements

16. John McKee , 17. Michael Milne , 18. Vakhtang Abdaladze , 19. James Ryan , 20. Josh van der Flier , 21. Nick McCarthy 22. Ross Byrne , 23. Rob Russell.

Ulster team to play Treviso - Saturday 1.00

15. Mike Lowry, 14. Rob Baloucoune, 13. James Hume, 12. Stuart McCloskey, 11. Jacob Stockdale, 10. Billy Burns, 9. John Cooney.

1. Eric O’Sullivan, 2. Rob Herring, 3. Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 4. Kieran Treadwell, 5. Iain Henderson (Captain), 6. Greg Jones, 7. Sean Reffell, 8. Nick Timoney.

Replacements

16. Tom Stewart, 17. Rory Sutherland, 18. Andy Warwick, 19. Alan O’Connor, 20. Duane Vermeulen, 21. Nathan Doak, 22. Stewart Moore, 23. Ethan McIlroy.

Connacht team to play Cell C Sharks - Saturday 5.15

15. Tiernan O’Halloran , 14. John Porch , 13. Tom Farrell , 12. Cathal Forde , 11. Mack Hansen, 10. Jack Carty, 9. Kieran Marmion

1. Denis Buckley , 2. Shane Delahunt , 3. Finlay Bealham , 4. Oisín Dowling , 5. Darragh Murray, 6. Josh Murphy, 7. Conor Oliver, 8. Shamus Hurley-Langton.

Replacements
16. Dylan Tierney-Martin , 17. Jordan Duggan , 18. Dominic Robertson-McCoy , 19. Leva Fifita , 20. Cian Prendergast , 21. Caolin Blade , 22. Conor Fitzgerald , 23. Byron Ralston.

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