Lions Ronan O’Gara and Donncha O’Callaghan are named in a Munster match day squad for the first time this season as is Keith Earls for Sunday’s sold-out Musgrave Park Magners League clash with the Dragons (5.05pm).
Also listed among the replacements is Jean de Villiers while Earls has been named at full back inplace of Felix Jones who moves to the wing with Denis Hurley on the other flank and Tony McGahan retaining the mid-field pairing of Barry Murphy and Lifeimi Mafi.
Paul O’Connell who had been named in the original squad was not considered due to a slight hamstring problem.
The injury that Nall Ronan suffered in the Scarlets game and the continued absence of David Wallace means Tommy O’Donnell gets to wear the number 7 jersey while Nick Williams returns from a knee injury to anchor the scrum.
Munster: Keith Earls; Felix Jones, Barry Murphy, Lifeimi Mafi, Denis Hurley; Ronan O’Gara, Tomas O’Leary; Marcus Horan,Denis Fogarty, Tony Buckley; Mick O’Driscoll, Donncha O’Callaghan; Alan Quinlan,Tommy O’Donnell, Nick Williams. Replacements: Damian Varley, Julien Brugnaut, Donnacha Ryan, James Coughlan, Toby Morland, Jeremy Manning, Jean de Villiers.