“We have highlighted this game for a long time” | Rowntree and Briggs ahead of Barbarians visit

Rowntree is happy where the side are and is looking forward to unleashing some ‘gems’ found in the pre season this Saturday.

Munster’s pre season kicks up a notch this Saturday as both the men and women’s side play the Barbarians in Thomond Park.

The women kick off proceedings at 2pm with the men’s game at 4.30pm.

And despite the early season nature of the contest, the importance of the clash is not lost on Munster Head Coach Graham Rowntree, who signed a contract extension during the week,

“This game we have highlighted for a long time, this is a big game for the club so it’s a proper game. I will pick as strong a team as I can for a prestigious club such as the Babas.”

It has been a mixed pre season so far for Munster with a win against Connacht in their most recent encounter following a heavy defeat to Leinster in their opener.

But Rowntree is happy where the side are and is looking forward to unleashing some ‘gems’ found in the pre season.

“We have the lads a good block of time off which was needed. We have really good body of work done since, physically, tactically. We’ve had a good look at young lads, unearthed some gems and hopefully you see them on Saturday.”

The women’s side will be looking to regroup after successive losses to Leinster in the Vodafone Interpros last month with coach Niamh Briggs hoping to build on the lessons learned.

“We grew a lot over the summer. While we are disappointed with the results against Leinster, I think we learned a lot. In order to test and see how much we have learned, we have to go and put a performance in this Saturday.”

Hear from the two Head Coaches below.

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You can watch both of Munster’s games with the Barbarians this Saturday on Access Munster.