Peter Stringer makes 200th Munster appearance
Irish scrum-half Peter Stringer will make his 200th appearance for Munster in his team’s Magners League match with Ulster on Friday 29 October.
The player will reach the milestone after he was released by Irish coach Declan Kidney so that he could join up with the Munster squad for the visit to Ravenhill in Belfast.
Stringer will become only the third player to win 200 appearances for Munster as he retains his place in Tony McGahan’s team after Munster’s 39-13 win over Benetton Treviso in the Magners League.
Both sides are depleted and have found their resources stretched to the limit. Munster is missing 21 team players because of the upcoming autumn internationals, suspensions and injuries. Ulster has similar problems and has made seven changes to their line
up for the encounter.
Prop John Hayes and wing Johne Murphy have also been released by Kidney and the coach is unlikely to start all three in the first Test match against South Africa on Saturday, 6 November.
Munster are the current league leaders in the Magners League and will hope that the experience of Hayes and Stringer will pay dividends in what will be a difficult match against Ulster.
Stringer made his debut for Munster in 1998 and has been a prominent figure for the province during that period.
He has recently been usurped as Munster and Ireland’s number one by Tomas O’Leary who is out with an ankle injury.
The scrum-half made his debut for Ireland a decade ago and has gone on to make 91 caps for the national side including a number of important substitute performances in Ireland's Grand Slam victory in 2009.
Munster coach McGahan has yet to name his captain, but Stringer is expected to receive the honour and lead the side out at Ravenhill.
The scrum-half will hope that he can grace his 200th appearance with Munster by claiming an important win against Ulster and maintaining their lead in the Magners League.
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