Munster v Ospreys: Teams

Munster have made a number of changes to their starting XV for the Heineken Cup encounter with the Ospreys.

Paul Warwick, Doug Howlett and Tomas O'Leary all come in the side, while Johne Murphy moves from full-back to the wing.

In the pack, David Wallace and James Coughlan are named in the back row woth skipper Deni Leamy moving to No.8.

Paul O'Connell continues his return on a star-studded bench, with John Hayes, Peter Stringer, Alan Quinlan and Lifiemi Mafi also named among the replacements.

The Ospreys delayed finalising their line-up as they waited on the outcome of Marty Holah's appeal against a two-match ban.

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The New Zealand flanker was suspended for tripping against Edinburgh last Saturday, but won his appeal on Friday evening and is now set to be named in the visitors' line-up.

Justin Tipuric will start on the bench, with Ospreys forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys pleased with the options available.

"We're going into this game in pretty good shape generally," he said.

"We've worked hard to build our squad depth and we've seen over the last month to six weeks some players putting their hands up.

"Barry Davies had his first full 80 minutes last weekend, Richard Fussell has been in excellent form and is looking a real threat every time he gets the ball, while Justin Tipuric is really blossoming, so we won't be looking at the negatives, only the positives.

"Selection has been very difficult, which is always a good sign."

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

Ospreys: 15 Barry Davies 14 Tommy Bowe 13 Andrew Bishop 12 James Hook 11 Richard Fussell 10 Dan Biggar 9 Mike Phillips 8 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Marty Holah, 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (capt), 4 Ryan Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Mefin Davies, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Ian Gough, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Jamie Nutbrown, 22 Sonny Parker, 23 Nikki Walker.