Munster can go top of the URC table if they maintain their recent winning run against Edinburgh

WITH the Glasgow Warriors and Leinster both not in action until Saturday, Munster have the opportunity to leapfrog both of them to the summit of the URC table, for twenty hours at least, should they extend their recent winning run away to Edinburgh on Friday night at the Hive Stadium.

Graham Rowntree's side seem to have timed their run of form perfectly, in a sequence starting to resemble last year's purple patch of form that saw them ending the season as league champions in Cape Town, with them now after winning their last seven games and collecting 34 league points out of a possible 35.

They famously won last year's title by winning all their knockout games on the road, but they are currently involved in a three-way lunge for the line, as Munster, Glasgow and Leinster are all desperately fighting it out to get the top seed spots that should guarantee an ‘easier’ home route to the final. 

Munster will be hopeful of being in the right place should either of their two rivals slip up in their tricky encounters away to the Lions and Ulster this weekend, and it certainly would ramp up the pressure should Munster emerge victorious in Scotland.

Given the current form Munster will obviously be confident this weekend, but this tie will be no walk in the park, as Mike Blair’s side have won their last three games against the Scarlets, Cardiff and Zebre, which has propelled them up to seventh place in the table, leaving them needing a home win to ensure they remain in the play-off places.

Interestingly, seven of Edinburgh’s last nine tries have come from the front row, so that would suggest that Munster must overpower their hosts if they wish to come out on top on Friday evening.

Former Munster outhalf Ben Healy has been instrumental in the Scottish side’s upsurge in form and it would certainly be an interesting dynamic to see the outhalf battle between Healy and his former teammate Jack Crowley in the battle of the two no. 10’s. 

Crowley was listed as a doubt this week, with a foot injury sustained in the win over Connacht, but Munster will be hoping that the Innishannon native is fit and firing for Friday.

Key to Munster's great form of late had been the key contributions of some of the elder statesmen in the squad, as the likes of Simon Zebo, Conor Murray, Niall Scannell and Stephen Archer have all managed to hit peak form at the right time.

They aren’t the only ones, as the brilliant current form of Jack O’Donoghue and Alex Kendellen has allowed Graham Rowntree the luxury of withholding Gavin Coombes to impact games late off the bench, which is some weapon to unleash on tiring defences.

Munster start Friday’s game as five point favourites, which would indicate that we could be set for a close, cagey encounter, rather than the comfortable 17-38 that Munster enjoyed in their last visit to Edinburgh back in December 2022. 

Obviously, a bonus point victory would be the ideal result but the win needs to be guaranteed first, as they go into the weekend two points behind Glasgow and one behind Leinster, so any sort of win will see Munster at the summit, even if it is only for a little while.