Munster v London Irish: Teams

Munster have made seven changes for Saturday's Heineken Cup Pool Three match against London Irish at Thomond Park.

Three of the changes are forced, with Donnacha Ryan tweaking a hamstring in the defeat to Toulon last Sunday, while Paul Warwick also suffered a heavy knock in that game. Sam Tuitupou strained a hamstring in training this week.

Johne Murphy takes over at full-back from Warwick with David Wallace switching to blindside flanker in place of James Coughlan, while Niall Ronan is handed the number seven jersey.

Also up front, Mick O'Driscoll is preferred to Donncha O'Callaghan as lock partner for captain Paul O'Connell.

In the backs, meanwhile, Lifeimi Mafi replaces Tuitupou and Tomas O'Leary starts ahead of Peter Stringer at scrum-half.

Further additions are Denis Hurley, who starts on the left wing, while Scott Deasy and Tom Gleeson have both been named on the bench.

Hurley said Munster are in a positive frame of mind, despite failing to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition for the first time in more than a decade after their 32-16 loss in France.

"Of course I understand the supporter's disappointment," he told the club's website. "We feel it just as keenly. People went to extraordinary lengths and huge expense in difficult times to support us last weekend. And you like to repay that sort of loyalty. But I think we still can."

Momentum

Meanwhile, following London Irish's much-needed win against the Ospreys last weekend - the Exiles' first in 11 games - they have stuck with Dan Bowden at fly-half for the third game in a row, with Darren Allinson starting at scrum-half.

Topsy Ojo moves to full-back in place of Delon Armitage, who picked up an eight-week ban on Thursday, while winger Adam Thompstone makes the starting XV for the first time in over a year after coming off the bench last weekend.

Head coach, Toby Booth said: "The win against the Ospreys was fantastic, we worked hard and earned a result. We need to keep that momentum rolling.

"We are under no illusions about the task ahead of us, Munster is an extremely well resourced side and we expect it to be tough. The squad has prepared hard this week and we will fight tooth and nail to get a victory."

Munster: 15 Johne Murphy, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Denis Hurley, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 Niall Ronan, 6 David Wallace, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Mick O'Driscoll, 3 John Hayes, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Darragh Hurley, 18 Tony Buckley, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 James Coughlan, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Scott Deasy, 23 Tom Gleeson.

London Irish: 15 Topsy Ojo, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Elvis Seveali'i', 12 Seilala Mapusua (capt), 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Dan Bowden, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 Chris Hala'ufia, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 George Stowers, 5 Matt Garvey, 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 James Buckland, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements: 16 Brian Blaney, 17 Dan Murphy, 18 Paulica Ion, 19 Richard Thorpe, 20 Kieran Roche, 21 Marcus Watson, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Paul Hodgson.