Leinster vs Munster preview: 80,000 supporters expected for Croke Park sell-out

Kenneth Fox

While Leinster against Munster is usually one of the hottest tickets in town, with the RDS being redeveloped, Croke Park will host over 80,000 supporters for one of the biggest rivalries in rugby.

Round four of the United Rugby Championship (URC) will see Ireland's two most successful provinces go head-to-head.

Leinster are currently unbeaten in the competition so far with three wins out of three. Munster have lost just one game after they were beaten by Zebre in round two 42-33.

Both teams have named strong sides as they look to earn a big win in front of the biggest crowd in URC history. 80,000 will break the previous record of 56,344 set in Cape Town during the 2023 URC final.

Leo Cullen has gone with former Munster player RG Synman in the pack alongside the likes of James Ryan, Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier and captain Caelen Doris.

Ciarán Frawley starts at fly-half with Jamison Gibson-Park alongside him at scrum-half.

Leinster forwards coach Robin McBryde says Ciarán Frawley has "put the ball in the rivals' court" when it comes to the battle for the fly-half position.

In the first three games of the season, Leinster started with three different fly-halfs.

Last Saturday saw Frawley start ahead of both Byrne brothers, and ahead of the game against Munster, McBryde spoke about the competition for the number 10 jersey.

"If you are given the shirt and opportunity and take your chance, and you don’t give the coaches a reason not to select you, that’s the goal.

"You put the ball in the other fella’s court, and you say, 'right, you have to bring your ‘A’ game to training, day in, day out, good habits every training session," he said.

Munster have gone with the familiar duo of Craig Casey and Jack Crowley at 9 and 10. Tadhg Berine captains a side which has the likes of Jean Kleyn, Jack O'Donoghue and Gavin Coombes in the pack.

Seán O'Brien and in-form Calvin Nash are on the wings with Mike Haley at full-back.

The game kicks off at 17:45pm on Saturday evening with live coverage on RTÉ Two.