Munster v Cardiff Blues: Teams

Munster coach Tony McGahan has made five changes to his line-up for Friday's RaboDirect PRO12 match against Cardiff Blues.

With Ronan O'Gara, Donnacha Ryan, Denis Hurley and Peter O'Mahony away on RBS Six Nations duty, Ian Keatley, Billy Holland, Felix Jones and Tommy O'Donnell come into the starting XV.

The fifth change sees Marcus Horan get the nod over Wian du Preez at loosehead prop.

The Blues have made just the three changes for the trip to Limerick - with Richie Rees, Chris Czekaj and Maama Molitika handed starts.

And coach Justin Burnell is hoping his side can take advantage of the enforced absentees in the Munster squad due to the Six Nations.

"They will be good at Thomond Park as always but it's a fantastic opportunity for our players to show their worth," he said.

"There's always a great atmosphere and we relish going there to play in front of their very vocal support.

"The Blues and Munster both have a game in hand and if we can take their scalp it would put us above them and we would be back in the top four."

Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Johne Murphy, 13 Danny Barnes, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Mick O'Driscoll (capt), 4 Billy Holland, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Denis Fogarty, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Paddy Butler, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Scott Deasy, 23 Luke O'Dea.

Cardiff Blues: 15 Chris Czekaj, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Gavin Evans, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Tom James, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Maama Molitika, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Michael Paterson, 5 Paul Tito (c), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Ryan Tyrell, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 T Rhys Thomas, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Sam Hobbs, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Thomas Young, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Ceri Sweeney 23 Ben Blair.