Munster v Aironi: Teams

Munster will be the huge favourites when they begin their Magners League campaign against new boys Aironi on Saturday.

Head coach Tony McGahan has shuffled his forward pack ahead of the clash with the Italian side at Musgrave Park.

After last Friday's final pre-season game with Gloucester, Mick O'Driscoll and Billy Holland come into the second row, leaving Donnacha Ryan to switch to blind-side flanker.

Niall Ronan, who came of the bench against Gloucester, will line-up at open-side flanker while Denis Leamy captains the side from number eight.

Club stalwarts and Ireland internationals John Hayes and Marcus Horan are included among the replacements.

Although he knows the visitors will be huge underdogs for the clash, McGahan is still wary of what will be an experienced Aironi side.

Statement

"They'd be coming to Munster to make a really strong statement about their approach to the competition. They've recruited well, brought in a lot of experienced players," he told Munster's official website.

"There's probably not a lot of pressure on them to get a result, but Munster away first up, they've nothing to lose, they can make a really strong statement to the rest of the opposition where they're going to be for this year."

Former Munster forward Nick Williams is named at number eight for Aironi after making the switch for the Irish side in the summer.

Current Italy internationals Fabio Ongaro, Salvatore Perugini, Carlo Del Fava and Quintin Geldenhuys are all also included in the starting XV.

Tito Tebaldi is named at scrum-half to partner French stand-off and former Gloucester player Ludovic Mercier.

Munster: 15 F Jones, 14 D Howlett, 13 J Murphy, 12 S Tuitupou, 11 I Dowling, 10 P Warwick, 9 P Stringer; 8 D Leamy (capt), 7 N Ronan, 6 D Ryan, 5 B Holland, 4 M O'Driscoll, 3 T Buckley, 2 D Varley, 1 W du Preez.
Replacements: 16 D Fogarty, 17 M Horan, 18 J Hayes, 19 A Quinlan, 20 P O'Mahony, 21 D Williams, 22 S Deasy, 23 D Barnes.

Aironi: 15 Julien Laharrague, 14 Giulio Rubini, 13Roberto Quartaroli, 12 Dylan Des Fountain, 11 Giulio Toniolatti, 10 Ludovic Mercier, 9 Tito Tebaldi; 8 Nick Williams, 7 Gareth Krause, 6 Jaco Erasmus, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys (capt), 4 Carlo Del Fava, 3 Salvatore Perugini, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Alberto De Marchi.
Replacements: 16 Andrea De Marchi, 17 Roberto Santamaria, 18 Luigi Milani, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Aldo Birchall, 21 Michael Wilson, 22 Alberto Benettin, 23 Gabriel Pizarro.