Massive all-Irish clash on the cards
Munster make two changes from the side that started against Edinburgh, for Saturday's big clash with Ulster at the Thomond Park Stadium.
Both those changes come in the pack with Academy player Stephen Archer coming into the front row in place of the injured Darragh Hurley and Alan Quinlan adding his considerable experience to the back row ahead of Niall Ronan who is named among the replacements.
Archer replaced Hurley in Murrayfield and although he was named in the extended squad earlier in the week, the injury to the shoulder he sustained there failed to respond to treatment.
Julien Brugnaut will operate in his favoured loose-head position having started the game against Edinburgh on the opposite side of the front-row. Quinlan, surprisingly omitted from Declan Kidney's international squad announced on Tuesday, comes back into the back-row at the expense of Ronan who is preferred on the Munster bench to Donnacha Ryan who is included in Kidney's squad.
A sub-Academy prop Dave Kilcoyne provides the back up to Archer and Brugnaut. From UL Bohemians, Kilcoyne made a good impression in the recent Munster A victory over Leinster in Clonmel.
Ulster Head Coach Brian McLaughlin has named his playing 22 with Paddy Wallace returning to captain the side after being rested last week under the IRFU World Cup Programme, in-place of Ian Whitten, who starts on the bench.
Stephen Ferris returns to the No.6 shirt, after recovering from an injury which kept him out of the Leinster game last weekend. Ed O'Donoghue replaces an injured Dan Tuohy in the second row.
Commenting on the last game of the Magners League before the break for international rugby, Ulster Coach Brain McLaughlin said: "You've always got to be wary of Munster.
"When you think of what has happened to them in the past month, they are going to want to get back on track. They are playing at Thomond, where they're extremely strong, so we are under no illusions about what we’re going to face down there.
"It will be a very confrontational full-strength Munster side, so it's going to be a very hard game. We just have to concern ourselves with going down there with the right attitude, playing with the confidence we have been and looking for a good performance."
"It's going to be a good check for us. It's going to be a good place to go, take them on and test ourselves.
"The season is relentless. Yes, after Munster there is a short break, but then we have Glasgow at home followed by two really tight back to back games against Stade Francais in the Heineken Cup. Coming out of that, we have the Magners inter-pro series over Christmas.
"So it's about us playing consistently at our best. That's what will determine our season," explained McLaughlin.
The teams:
Munster: 15 Paul Warwick, 14 Ian Dowling, 13 Lifeimi Mafi, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Alan Quinlan, 5 Paul O'Connell (captain), 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Denis Fogarty, 1 Julien Brugnaut.
Replacements: 16 Damien Varley, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Niall Ronan, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Denis Hurley, 22 Felix Jones.
Ulster: 15 Clinton Schifcofske, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Chris Henry, 7 Willie Faloon, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Ryan Caldwell, 4 Ed O'Donoghue, 3 Brendon Botha, 2 Nigel Brady, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Andy Kyriacou, 17 Bryan Young, 18 Tamaiti Horua, 19 Robbie Diack, 20 Paul Marshall, 21 Ian Whitten, 22 Simon Danielli.
Date: Saturday, October 31
Time: 17:00 (17.00 GMT)
Venue: Thomond Park
Referee: Alain Rolland (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: D Keane (IRFU), K Beggs (IRFU)
TMO: Tony Redmond (IRFU)