Ruan Pienaar starts at scrumhalf, Jared Payne is selected at fullback, with Tom Court named at loosehead and John Afoa returning at tighthead.
RaboDirect PRO12 Players' Player of the Year, Nick Williams, has recovered from the calf injury that he picked up in November and is named as a substitute.
Johann Muller was unavailable for selection having sustained a leg injury in training this week.
The defeat to Leinster ended Ulster's five game winning run in all tournaments. Ulster have lost only once at Ravenhill in any competition since February but will face a tough test against Munster who are currently seven points clear at the top of the RaboDirect PRO12.
The game is live on BBC 2 NI and RTE2.
Tickets for Ulster's Heineken Cup game against Montpellier at Ravenhill next Friday night are still available and can be purchased via Ticketmaster or at the Ulster Rugby Ticket Office at Ravenhill.
Ulster XV and replacements to face Munster, RaboDirect PRO12, Ravenhill, Friday 2nd January (kick off 19:05); J Payne, A Trimble, D Cave, L Marshall, C Gilroy, P Jackson, R Pienaar; (1-8): T Court, R Herring, J Afoa, I Henderson, D Tuohy, R Diack (Captain), C Henry, R Wilson; (16-23): N Annett, C Black, D Fitzpatrick, L Stevenson, N Williams, S Doyle, P Marshall, M Allen.
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