O'Driscoll's last time in charge of the side was against the All Blacks and on Sunday he will have only four of the pack that started that night but the backline remains almost in it's entirety from the one that played on that memorable November night

Coach Tony McGahan is only tto aware of the difficult task facing Munster on Sunday. "There is no difference in the scale of difficulty when you play against any of the other Irish sides. They're local debies simple as that and that gives them that extra edge.

"Playing Connacht away is every bit as tough as playing Ulster in Ravenhill or Leinster in Dublin. And we only have to remember past games down at The Sportsground to realise what we'll be up against on Sunday. Last year for example, I think we were just barely ahead, a point or two,  when we scored a late try that Rog converted but there was nothig in it right throughout.

" It was same the year before and there a few 3-0 wins as well. This season they've beaten Glasgow and Leinster here and come into the game on foot of a good Challenege Cup run so we're under no illusions about the scale of the task we face on Sunday."

Munster: K Earls; D Howlett, B Murphy, L Mafi, I Dowling; P Warwick, P Stringer; F Pucciariello, J Flannery, T Buckley; M O'Driscoll capt, D Ryan; A Quinlan, N Ronan, D Wallace. Replacements. F Sheahan, T Ryan, J Coughlan, N Williams, M Prendergast, J Manning, D Hurley