A week on from a titanic Test at the Aviva Stadium, it will be Ireland v South Africa once again as the top two in the Vodacom URC lock horns.
Limerick’s Thomond Park will be the setting this time as the league’s two unbeaten sides – Munster Rugby and DHL Stormers – meet on Saturday evening.
Both sides have won their opening five matches and are level on points, so it’s set to be a mouth-watering top-of-the-table clash.
Munster forwards coach Alex Codling feels there are comparisons to be drawn with last weekend’s much discussed Quilter Nation Series showdown between Ireland and the Springboks in Dublin.
“I thought it was a really combative game first and foremost,” said the Englishman.
“It was relentless for the 80 minutes. Both teams were going hammer and tong at each other.
“You had the intensity and the ferocity, while the courage Ireland showed to stay in the fight was tremendous.
“I think there are a lot of parallels between the South African team and the Stormers in terms of a massive scrum, a big maul, a transition kicking game and really trying to go hard on those pressure points.
“It’s a really good way for us to come back and start the block, playing the Vodacom URC leaders.
“As I alluded to, there are a lot of similarities between them and the Springboks team and obviously South African rugby is on a high at the moment. We are expecting an extremely physical game.
“They are ranked number one in terms of ball winning, they have got a very strong maul, they are very well coached, so we are aware of the threat. It’s a massive challenge, but we are really looking forward to it.”
He continued: “We have played really well in patches away from home. We are obviously delighted to be where we are at, but we are also aware that we need to be more consistent and certainly so at Thomond in front of our home fans who mean everything to us.”
Providing the player’s perspective on facing the Stormers – who top the Vodacom URC table on points difference – centre Sean O’Brien said: “They are the only team ahead of us in the league.
“So coming back to a match like that it’s exactly what you want, straight back into the deep end.
“Hopefully we will get a good crowd out at Thomond and give them something to cheer about. We are all looking forward to the match.”
So far this season, Munster have claimed league victories over the Scarlets, Cardiff Rugby, Edinburgh Rugby, Leinster Rugby and Connacht Rugby, while also beating an Argentina XV.
“We have been zoning in on that bit of grit and doggedness that Munster has always been known for and it’s really helped us,” said O’Brien.
“We haven’t really been playing our best rugby, we haven’t been playing to our potential, but we are still grinding out wins which is the main thing at the end of the day.
“We have loads to improve on, but we are still winning games which is a sign of a good team ultimately.”
He added: “We had a bit of a pre-season week last week, doing the hills, swimming, rowing. It was a good week to be fair.
“This week now it’s been a bit more rugby. We’ve had the Irish lads coming back in as well to give us another boost in training.
“So everybody is massively looking forward to the Stormers game. We are raring to go and get stuck into them.
“Like I say, they are the only team ahead of us in the table. These are the positions you want to be in, a top of the table clash.”
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