O'Donnell and Ryan make up two of three changes to the pack while Cronin is named amongst the replacements.
The only other change up front comes at hooker with Niall Scannell packing down between Dave Kilcoyne and John Ryan.
Captain Billy Holland makes the positional switch to start alongside Ryan in the second row for the first time this season, while in the back row, O'Donnell starts at 7 with Jack O'Donoghue moving to 6 and Robin Copeland remaining at 8.
The first of two changes across the backline comes in the half-backs with Tomás O'Leary resuming his partnership with Ian Keatley. The second is seen in midfield where David Johnston comes in to form an all-academy centre pairing with Rory Scannell.
Ronan O'Mahony, Darren Sweetnam and Andrew Conway again make up the back-three.
Should he feature from the bench, academy back-row Conor Oliver will make his first competitive appearance for Munster, while Johnny Holland has recovered from a long-term hamstring injury to win inclusion in his first PRO12 squad since November 2014.
Munster: Andrew Conway; Darren Sweetnam, David Johnston, Rory Scannell, Ronan O'Mahony; Ian Keatley, Tomás O'Leary; Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell, John Ryan; Donnacha Ryan, Billy Holland - capt.; Jack O'Donoghue, Tommy O'Donnell, Robin Copeland.
Replacements: Mike Sherry, James Cronin, Mario Sagario, Dave Foley, Conor Oliver, Duncan Williams, Johnny Holland, Cian Bohane.
This game will be televised on Sky Sports 5.
Guinness PRO12 Munster News
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