Connacht v Munster - Teams
Connacht are boosted by the return from injury of captain John Muldoon for their sold-out clash with Munster at the Sportsground on Sunday.
Last Updated: 01/01/09 12:07pm
Captain John Muldoon returns for Connacht in Sunday's sell-out against Magners League leaders Munster.
The flanker has been missing since October but goes straight into the starting line-up in one of five changes to the side that beat Rovigo in the European Challenge Cup last time.
Wing Liam Bibo has recovered from a hamstring injury to start, while recent signing Niva Ta'auso is back from an arm problem.
Up front Sean Cronin starts at hooker while Colm Rigney returns at number eight.
Munster lock Mick O'Driscoll takes the captain's armband on his 130th appearance as coach Tony McGahan rests several key players against bottom-of-the-table Connacht.
However, he refuses to take his fellow Irishmen lightly on their home turf after being given a fright last season.
"There is no difference in the scale of difficulty when you play against any of the other Irish sides. They're local derbies simple as that and that gives them that extra edge," he said.
"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 [O'Gara] converted but there was nothing 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 Challenge Cup run, so we're under no illusions about the scale of the task we face."
Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy, 14 Troy Nathan, 13 Niva Ta'auso, 12 Keith Matthews, 11 Liam Bibo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Frank Murphy, 8 Colm Rigney, 7 Ray Ofisa, 6 John Muldoon (c), 5 Andrew Farley, 4 Mike McCarthy, 3 Robbie Morris, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements (from): Adrian Flavin, Ronan Loughney, Andrew Browne, Michael Swift, Kieran Campbell, Andy Dunne, Mel Deane, Fionn Carr.
Munster: 15 Keith Earls, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Barry Murphy, 12 Lifiemi Mafi, 11 Ian Dowling, 10 Paul Warwick, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 David Wallace, 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Alan Quinlan, 5 Donncha Ryan, 4 Mick O'Driscoll (c), 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Federico Pucciariello.
Replacements: 16 Frank Sheahan, 17 Tim Ryan, 18 James Coughlan, 19 Nick Williams, 20 Mike Prendergast, 21 Jeremy Manning, 22 Denis Hurley.
