John Hearty comes into the side on the left wing as Connacht bid to continue their proud record of having won their opening match every year since the competition began in 2001.
Captain Muldoon will become the eleventh player to reach the century milestone of caps for Connacht while Brett Wilkinson, now beginning his third season with the club, will be make his 50th appearance for Connacht.
Connacht team: F Carr; L Bibo, G Duffy, K Matthews, J Hearty; I Keatley, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, S Cronin, R Morris; M McCarthy, A Farley; J Muldoon (C), R Ofisa, C Rigney.
Replacements: A Flavin, R Loughney, A Browne, M Swift, K Campbell, T Nathan, A Wynne.
Not considered due to injury: Mel Deane (foot), Tim Donnelly (shoulder), Andy Dunne (hamstring), Johnny O'Connor (hand), Conor O'Loughlin (hip) and Mike Roberts (calf).
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