Benetton Treviso v Munster: Champions Cup preview
By Robert Mulhern
Last Updated: 24/01/16 12:32pm
Anthony Foley hopes Munster can end their Pool 4 campaign with a clinical performance away to Treviso.
Munster's chances of advancing to the quarter-finals are slim but they did post an impressive victory over Stade Francais in Thomond Park last weekend - bouncing back from a humbling loss in Paris against the French side.
Now the two-time European champions hope to build on that confidence-boosting result on Sunday at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo.
"Everyone turned up for one another against Stade," said Foley. "And we know our supporters will always be right behind us. Now we want to try and finish things on a high."
The victory over Stade moved Munster within four points of the Top 14 champions and they can still finish second in the pool, although the chances of progressing as one of the best three runners-up would require a five-point-victory in Italy and an unlikely series of events elsewhere.
But Foley expects his side to reaffirm their improvement and believes his squad can be a force again in Europe.
"We have learnt a lot in this competition," he said. "We had more experienced players in previous years and we have maybe lacked a little bit of big game temperament but we are getting there."
"Last season we lost the PRO12 final and did not get out of our group in the Champions Cup. We have lost big games this season too and we have to make sure we learn from those lessons.
"We are our own harshest critics. We have a stable environment but we are building a new team and this group is growing. Some are having their first European experience which is hard because of the expectation but there needs to be a realism with it."
Munster have won all five of the European Cup tests against Treviso, scoring an average of 40 points per game, while the Italians have lost all 17 fixtures this season.
Treviso: 15 Jayden Hayward; 14 Andrea Pratichetti, 13 Enrico Bacchin, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Simone Ragusi; 10 James Ambrosini, 9 Alberto Lucchese; 1 Matteo Zanusso, 2 Ornel Gega, 3 Simone Ferrari, 4 Marco Fuser, 5 Jean-François Montauriol, 6 Marco Lazzaroni, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 8 Abraham Jurgens Steyn.
Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Salesi Manu, 19 Tom Palmer, 20 Marco Barbini, 21 Tommaso Iannone, 22 Samuel Christie, 23 Luke McLean.
Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Francis Saili, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Ronan O'Mahony, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray; 1 Dave Kilcoyne, 2 Mike Sherry, 3 John Ryan, 4 Dave Foley, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 6 Billy Holland, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 8 CJ Stander (d).
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 James Cronin, 18 Mario Sagario, 19 Robin Copeland, 20 Mark Chisholm, 21 Jack O'Donoghue, 22 Tomas O'Leary, 23 Gerhard van den Heever.