Luke Fitzgerald, Jamie Heaslip and Rob Kearney all made their first starts of the season in the Scottish capital and the trio are joined by the likes of Nathan Hines, Isa Nacewa and Stan Wright. The team is expected to be named on Friday lunchtime.
Saturday's game will be a sell out with over 1,200 tickets returned from Munster snapped up by Leinster season ticket holders within an hour of going on sale on Monday evening. Due to a number of other events around the RDS this weekend, supporters are encouraged to use public transport.
Leinster squad to face Munster:
Forwards: Leo Cullen, John Fogarty, Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip, Nathan Hines, Bernard Jackman, Shane Jennings, Stephen Keogh, Ronan McCormack, Kevin McLaughlin, Sean O'Brien, Malcolm O'Kelly, Mike Ross, Devin Toner, Stan Wright
Backs: Shaun Berne, Gordon D'Arcy, Girvan Dempsey, Luke Fitzgerald, Shane Horgan, Chris Keane, Rob Kearney, Simon Keogh, Fergus McFadden, Isa Nacewa, Brian O'Driscoll, Eoin Reddan, Jonathan Sexton
Speaking ahead of ther clash Leinster Coach Michael Cheika said that the squad are excited about the challenge that this week's derby will bring.
"We have a couple of (longer term) injuries, but Brian (O'Driscoll) has come back into the squad this week," said Cheika.
"CJ (van der Linde) was very borderline and I probably could have included him if I wanted to, but I think he has been out for a while and he's going to have to fight for his place back because the front-rowers are going quite well. We decided that it was best to give him another week to get his scrummaging right and make sure everything's all healed, but it's all going well for him. It's good that we have got good selection to choose from.
"He had his first full contact hit out today and we just want to do a bit more work on his scrummaging and then I think we'll be confident enough to let him back in.
"We would have liked Brian to play this weekend, but it's a long season and he has got enough experience now to play these kind of games fresh after a long break. He will have some rustiness, there's no doubt. We're not going to expect him to go out there and win the game on his own, but he'll get a good run-out in this fixture and he's going to be up against some quality opposition. And it will be very good for him to get his first start at a high level.
"There have been the most restrictions this year (in terms of international player access) and there has been a lot of juggling, but in saying that too, that's the nature of the squad. If we can build a core style that we're looking to play then we can get through that with a change here and a change there. The new players have really contributed a lot. Shaun Berne, Mike (Ross), Nathan Hines and Eoin Reddan have really made good contributions to the team and that has been really positive.
"In the team there's a lot of genuine positive feeling amongst the guys. This has been building up over time and there's a really strong dressing-room, which is the objective. It's almost like the dressing-room makes the coach's job obsolete. He doesn't have to motivate, he just makes a few tactics and they're motivating themselves and getting themselves up for games. When they're on the back-foot they get themselves out of trouble. We didn't play well last weekend but they got themselves out of trouble which is good. If you're patient and you work hard then the results will come.
"We went through a period last year when we couldn't score for a few weeks at Heineken Cup time, but when you have that experience behind you, you can say just keep doing the right things and keep looking for the right changes and try and be positive and that breakthrough will come.
"The two matches against Munster (and the three which can happen which are good!) are the highlights of your season. For me as a foreigner who has come to understand the rivalry, it's a real classic. You don't find these types of rivalries in many other places. What we have to is break the tit-for-tat nature of this encounter. They win and then we win, we win two and then they win two. If we want to be successful on Saturday then we'll need to break that cycle because I want us to be the team that's mentally angrier and wants to come back and win the match even though we won the last time. Last time means nothing."
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