Munster (v Leinster)

All those changes come up front, three involve players who were on the bench last weekend and injury to Niall Ronan (groin) and Marcus Horan (eye) were the other considerations.

The backline remains the same with skipper Doug Howlett leading the side out to win his 100th competitive Munster cap.

Ronan picked up a slight groin injury in training yesterday while Horan continues to recover from a cut under the eye that he received in a club game. That means a start for Dave Kilcoyne ahead of Wian du Preez who is named on the bench, a situation that pertained in the Scarlets game when the 23 year old impressed before being replaced by the South African.

Elsewhere Donnacha Ryan and Peter O'Mahony return to the starting XV for the first time this season while Dave O'Calllaghan returns to the blind-side role he operated from against Treviso, Ulster and Dragons.

Munster: D Hurley; D Howlett capt, K Earls, C Laulala, S Zebo; R O'Gara, C Murray; D Kilcoyne, M Sherry, BJ Botha; D O'Callaghan, D Ryan; Dave O'Callaghan, S Dougall, P O'Mahony.

Replacements: D Varley, W du Preez, S Archer, B Holland, P Butler, D Williams, I Keatley, J Downey.