On Wednesday the news emerged that Ben Healy would be leaving Munster at the end of the season having agreed a deal to move to Edinburgh.
The flyhalf has been battling with Jack Crowley and Joey Carbery for consistent game time at the province and now has the chance to nail down a test jersey with Scotland. The 23-year-old qualifies to play for Scotland through his grandparents and reports indicate that head coach Gregor Townsend has been closely following his development at Thomond Park.
While the news came as an expected shock to Munster fans, Healy has been named to start for this evening's clash with the Emirates Lions at Musgrave Park in the United Rugby Championship.
Waterford man Jack O' Donoghue will captain the side from the back row where he is joined by John Hodnett and Alex Kendellen.
There are six personnel changes and three positional switches to the side that beat Ulster last Sunday.
Gavin Coombes moves to the second row alongside Jean Kleyn, Malakai Fekitoa moves to outside centre, Shane Coombes and Shane Daly are on either wing while Josh Wycherley, Diarmuid Barron and Roman Salanoa all start in the front row.
This evening will be Munster's last chance to put points on the U.R.C table until the end of January as they return to European games for the next two weeks. Graeme Rowntree's side have a losing record in the league so far this season with 5 wins and 6 losses on their record. Only once so far this season have Munster managed to put together back-to-back when they beat Connacht and Edinburgh at the end of November. Back-to-back losses meanwhile have been a bit more regular (Cardiff, Dragons & Leinster, Ulster).
Tonight's opponents are in a similar position to the Red Army (albeit with one game less played). The South African side are just outside the top half of the table in 11th with 24 points on the board thanks to 5 wins and 5 losses. Their performances have come in fits and starts during this campaign with a good run of wins being followed up by 2 or 3 consecutive losses. They have also lost their last two outings and will give Munster plenty to think about as they search for a hugely valuable win before returning to Challenge Cup demands.
