Munster v Ospreys: Teams

Alan Quinlan is set to win his 200th Munster cap when he leads the Red Army out against the Ospreys in Saturday's clash at Thomond Park.

Quinlan, who celebrated his 36th birthday in July, becomes just the second Munster player to achieve the feat in the club's history.

And he is set to create a new record when he inevitably surpasses Anthony Foley's record of captaining the team on 201 occasions.

Tomas O'Leary is the only change to the Munster back-line, from the side that started against Edinburgh, while up front, Munster start this game with the front five that finished at Murrayfield.

Meanwhile, the Ospreys have named a line-up littered with internationals as they look to make it two wins from three in the Magners League.

Big step

Nikki Walker, Lee Byrne and Shane Williams form a potent back-three combination while Tommy Bowe is at thirteen, outside Andrew Bishop.

"It's a big game for us, it always is, and the fact that it is so early in the season is irrelevant," said head coach, Sean Holley.

"Munster are one of only two unbeaten teams in the league even at this stage, so it's important for us that we look to stop them building up a gap on us in the first month.

"Saying that, leagues aren't won in September so lets not build it up too much, we are building week by week, slowly re-integrating our international players, and win, lose or draw this weekend, we expect to make another big step forward.

"Our form in Ireland last season went a long way to helping us winning the Magners League, with three wins from four in the regular season before the big one in Leinster in the final. We picked up a lot of the points on the road. We've already lost in Ulster this season, so it's important that we pick something up.

"We play Munster four times this season, so it's a bit of a mini league we'll have going over the coming months. They are a team that we have the utmost respect for and I think that's mutual. They've had a good start, there'll be a big crowd there and it'll be tough, I've no doubt about that.

"But we'll go there with confidence and belief in ourselves."

Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Johne Murphy, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Ian Dowling, 10 Paul Warwick, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Denis Leamy (capt), 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Alan Quinlan, 5 Donncha Ryan, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Denis Fogarty, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Damien Varley,17 Wian du Preez, 18 Tony Buckley, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Peter O'Mahony, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Ronan O'Gara, 23 Danny Barnes.

Ospreys: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Tommy Bowe, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Jamie Nutbrown, 8 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Marty Holah, 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun Wyn Jones (capt), 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Adam Jones, 19 Ian Gough, 20 Ben Lewis, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Gareth Owen, 23 Richard Fussell.