Munster v Leinster: Teams

Ronan O'Gara: Will captain Munster against Leinster

Munster and Leinster have both made a host of changes as they welcome back their Ireland internationals for the top-of-the-table RaboDirect PRO12 clash at Thomond Park.

The hosts welcome back Keith Earls, Donncha O'Callaghan, Peter O'Mahony and Ronan O'Gara, who captains the side in the absence of Paul O'Connell.

One further change is made, with Marcus Horan preferred to Wian du Preez at loosehead prop, while Johne Murphy moves from outside centre to the right wing to make room for Earls.

O'Callaghan will be playing his 198th game for Munster cap and says that anticipation in the Munster camp is building ahead of the showdown.

"Absolutely. These are the games that everyone wants to be involved in. They're what make the dark and dirty nights of winter training so worthwhile," he said.

"And they're great occasions. There's always that bit of a bigger buzz ahead of the Leinster game."

Massive

He added: "It'll be a massive game for us. They're the form side, a real good side and they'll have all their big boys back so we'll really have to produce something special if we're to get anything out of this."

O'Connell, Donnacha Ryan and Conor Murray are still sidelined through injury but all three could return for the next fixture against Ulster.

Gordon D'Arcy will become only the second player in Leinster history to reach the 200 cap landmark on Saturday, joining Shane Horgan in the prestigious club.

He will join Brian O'Driscoll in the centres, with the Ireland captain successfully coming through his first appearance of the season against the Ospreys last weekend.

Table-topping Leinster are able to bring back Rob Kearney at full-back, with Eoin Reddan and Jonathan Sexton teaming up at half-back.

Jamie Heaslip comes back in at No. 8 to captain the team with Shane Jennings and Kevin McLaughlin in an all-changed back row.

Devin Toner comes in for Leo Cullen at lock with Sean Cronin and Mike Ross being inserted into the front row. Cullen, Cian Healy and Sean O'Brien are named among the replacements.

Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Johne Murphy, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ronan O'Gara (c), 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Peter O'Mahony, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Mick O'Driscoll, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Tom O'Donnell, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Danny Barnes.

Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Isa Nacewa, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip (c), 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Jamie Hagan, 19 Leo Cullen, 20 Sean O'Brien, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Fergus McFadden.