The second of this weekend’s PRO14 semi-finals will see reigning champions Leinster square off with Munster on Saturday the 18th of May.
Leinster will be looking to bounce back from last weekend’s European Rugby Champions Cup finals defeat when they take on arch-rivals Ulster in the PRO14 semi-finals this coming Saturday. The hosts looked extremely underdone out in Newcastle last weekend and will need to up their game ten-fold if they are to beat a solid Munster side.
Leinster v Munster
Saturday 18 May
RDS Arena
To Win (80 Mins)
Leinster 3/10
Draw 22/1
Munster 21/10
*Forecast Odds
Leinster
Leinster will have to overcome the heartache of faltering at the last hurdle in Europe when they take on local rivals Munster. The hosts were unable to defend their European Champions Cup crown last as they went down 20-10 to Saracens in the final last weekend. It was a very uncharacteristic performance from the Irish province who made a number of rudimentary errors during the course of the 80-minutes out in Newcastle.
The PRO14 does offer Leinster a chance of claiming silverware still, and they have been a force to be reckoned with again this term winning 15 and drawing one of their 21 round-robin phase fixtures. One of their five defeats during the round-robin phase did come at the hands of Munster so they will need to be wary of their local rivals.
Munster
Munster also enjoyed a decent time of it during the round-robin phase of this season’s PRO14 winning 16 of their 21 games on the way to finishing as Conference A’s runners-up. They have a solid squad, with their loose trio a real threat at the breakdown.
While Leinster automatically qualified for the semi-finals by virtue of topping their conference, Munster had to go through the play-offs where they narrowly beat a spirited Treviso side 15-13. They will need to put in an improved showing this week as Leinster are a far more prodigious outfit than the Italian club.
Verdict: Leinster 3/10 *Forecast Odds
These games tend to be rather close run things with three of the last four meetings between the sides being won by nine points or less. I feel we will be in for another tight one at the RDS this weekend. My money is on the hosts edging it by no more than five points.
Written by Darry Worthington for Hollywoodbets
