Munster v Clermont: Teams

Fijian flyer Napoliani Nalaga makes his return to the Clermont wing for Saturday's Heineken Cup Pool One clash away to defending champions Munster.

There are eight personnel and two positional changes to the side that beat Munster in Clermont last week.

Nalaga has served his 22-day suspension for a high tackle on Jean-Baptiste Elissalde in the Test between France and the Pacific Islands and returns the Clermont's starting line-up in the place of club captain Aurelien Rougerie.

Elsewhere in the back-line, former Springbok Marius Joubert will play after outside centre after recovering from injury, relegating Seremaïa Bai to the bench and moving Benoit Baby to the number twelve jersey.

There are a host of changes to the pack where Alexandre Audebert and Elvis Vermeulen are added to the back row to partner Julien Bonnaire. Vermeulen will also captain the side.

Remarkable

There is an all-new tight five as Canadian Jamie Cudmore moves the second row to partner Thibault Privat. Pumas hooker Mario Ledesma is dropped to the bench in favour of Benoit Cabello.

Meanwhile, Munster's side shows just one change. That change comes in the front row where the fit again Jerry Flannery returns in place of Frank Sheahan.

Flannery injured a knee in the international against Argentina but has staged a remarkable recovery to regain his place in the starting XV.

Munster completed their preparations on Wednesday and while Flannery took a full part, Barry Murphy sat out the afternoon session because of a slight back problem but that was purely precautionary and Murphy is fit and ready to take his place alongside Lifeimi Mafi in the Munster midfield.

The pressure is on Munster in Pool One after they claimed just a losing bonus-point at Clermont last weekend. The reigning champions lie one point behind Sale Sharks but know they cannot afford to slip up again at the revamped Thomond Park.

But Tony McGahan's men will hope to repeat last year's exploits by securing a bonus-point home win against the French outfit on their mach to lifting Europe's top prize for the second time in three years.

Munster: 15 Keith Earls, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Barry Murphy, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Ian Dowling, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 David Wallace, 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Alan Quinlan, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Frankie Sheahan, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Denis Fogarty, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Donnacha Ryan, 19 James Coughlan, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Paul Warwick, 22 tbc.

Clermont: 15 Anthony Floch, 14 Julien Malzieu, 13 Marius Joubert, 12 Benoit Baby, 11 Napoliani Nalaga, 10 Brock James, 9 Pierre Mignoni, 8 Elvis Vermeulen (c), 7 Alexandre Audebert, 6 Julien Bonnaire, 5 Thibault Privat, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Jacobus Roux, 2 Benoit Cabello, 1 Laurent Emmanuelli.
Replacements: 16 Mario Ledesma, 17 Davit Zirakashvili, 18 Christophe Samson, 19 Emmanuel Etien, 20 John Senio, 21 Seremaia Baï, 22 Grant Esterhuizen.