Munster v Ospreys: Teams

Doug Howlett: Munster return

Munster have made eight changes to their side for the visit of the unbeaten Ospreys to Thomond Park on Saturday evening.

Ospreys are the only unbeaten side left in the RaboDirect PRO12 league and lead Munster by three points at the top of the table.

Doug Howlett returns to the Munster side and as a result Johne Murphy moves back to the full-back berth. Danny Barnes also returns to the starting XV while this time around Duncan Williams starts ahead of Peter Stringer at scrum-half.

Stephen Archer gets the nod over John Hayes while Billy Holland, the travelling reserve last weekend, partners Mick O'Driscoll in the second row.

In what could be the deciding back-row area, Dave O'Callaghan comes in on the blindside for his first competitive start, Niall Ronan retains the number seven jersey while Peter O'Mahony pulls it all together at number eight.

Parker milestone

BJ Botha is named on the bench as is Marcus Horan, who has recovered from the bout of illness that kept him out of the Edinburgh game.

Meanwhile, Sonny Parker will become just the third Ospreys player to reach 150 appearances for the region if he comes off the bench.

"We're expecting a tough evening. You wouldn't expect anything else when you play Munster, home or away," said Ospreys forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys.

"Both teams may have a different look to them from when we last played, but it will still be intense and will still be a real battle.

"We are well aware that we have to raise our game several levels from where we were against Connacht. We weren't at our best, and a lot of credit for that has to go to Connacht for stopping us playing, but we have to expect that and learn how to deal with it. Munster won't be any different in that area of the game, so we need to learn how to combat it.

"Our tenacity, our spirit and work ethic is spot on. This group of players are displaying all the characteristics we want from Ospreys players, but they need to improve on their accuracy and attention to detail because Munster will make us pay if we don't get it right on Saturday."

Munster: 15 Johne Murphy, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Danny Barnes, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Denis Hurley, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Peter O'Mahony (c) 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Mick O'Driscoll, 4 Billy Holland, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Denis Fogarty, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Sean Henry, 17 Marcus Horan, 18 BJ Botha, 19 Ian Nagle, 20 Tommy O'Donnell, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Scott Deasy, 23 Simon Zebo.

Ospreys: 15 Barry Davies, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Tom Isaacs, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Joe Bearman, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Cai Griffiths, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements: 16 Mefin Davies, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Joe Rees, 19 Tom Smith, 20 James King, 21 Matthew Morgan, 22 Sonny Parker, 23 Kristian Phillips.