Munster v Cardiff - RaboDirect Pro 12 match preview

Jamie Roberts: Back from injury

Keith Earls: His first appearance since early December

Munster ring the changes for the visit of Cardiff to Musgrave Park as they look to return to the top four in the RaboDirect Pro12 table.

Ireland international Keith Earls returns to the centre for the first time in a month while full-back Felix Jones and flanker Sean Dougall are also named in the XV.

Johne Murphy is the latest injury casualty - the winger had been called in for the crocked Luke O'Dea but a hamstring strain means Denis Hurley gets a start.

Damien Varley, Dave O'Callaghan and Niall Ronan are ruled out while Peter O'Mahony, Simon Zebo and Donncha O'Callaghan are rested ahead of the upcoming Heineken Cup action.

Cardiff Blues welcome back Jamie Roberts and Leigh Halfpenny to the matchday squad - Roberts starts at centre having recovered from an elbow injury picked up in the loss to Australia.

Halfpenny has a place on the bench having also recovered from a neck/shoulder injury picked up in the same match.

Roberts forms a new centre partnership joining Richard Smith who is set to make his Blues starting debut.

The strong running centre is a regular for Wales Sevens, having got his first taste of Sevens during the summer of 2011, where he played for Wales in three of the four legs of the FIRA series - in Bucharest, Barcelona and Moscow.

There is also a new face on the bench with 22-year-old Romanian prop forward Petru Tamba set to make his Blues debut. Tamba made his Romania debut against Japan in Bucharest last November and also faced the USA the same month.

Scrum half Alex Walker retains his place on the bench from the Dragons victory. The former Wales Under 18 and 19's scrum half started his career with Newport Youth, Newport Gwent Dragons U20, and was part of the Dragons Junior Academy.

Munster: 15 F Jones; 14 D Howlett, 13 K Earls, 12 J Downey, 11 D Hurley; 10 R O'Gara, 9 C Murray; 1 D Kilcoyne, 2 M Sherry, 3 S Archer; 4 D Foley, 5 D Ryan; 6 T O'Donnell, 7 S Dougall, 8 J Coughlan.
Replacements: 16 S Henry, 17 W du Preez, 18 BJ Botha, 19 B Holland, 20 CJ Stander, 21 D Williams, 22 I Keatley, 23 C Laulala.

Cardiff Blues: 15 Jason Tovey, 14 Owen Williams, 13 Richard Smith, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Harry Robinson, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Lewis Jones, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Josh Navidi, 5 Lou Reed, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Benoit Bourrust, 2 Rhys Williams, 1 Sam Hobbs.
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Paetru Tamba, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 James Down, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Alex Walker, 22 Ceri Sweeney, 23 Leigh Halfpenny.

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