Munster v Sale: Teams

At Thomond Park, Friday January 16, live on Sky Sports 1 from 7.30pm

Philippe Saint-Andre has only made one change to his Sale side for their must-win Heineken Cup clash with Munster on Friday.

Richard Wigglesworth replaces Dwayne Peel at scrum-half but it is otherwise the same team that recorded a confidence boosting 14-8 victory over Guinness Premiership leaders London Irish .

And Saint-Andre is fully aware how important the match is.

"Quite simply, we need to win both our remaining games to stand a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals," he said.

Huge

"As things stand any one of the four teams in our group can still qualify.

"We always knew it was winner-takes-all in Pool One of the Heineken Cup and that no team would qualify as a runner up in this group.

"We have had a good run of late but this is a huge test for us, against the holders on their home ground. We have nearly 3,000 of our fans making the journey with us and I am sure they will give the players great support."

Sale Sharks will provide 1,000 flags for the travelling supporters to wave in imitation of the home fans at Thomond Park.

Fit

It is also a crucial tie for defending European champions Munster, who can guarantee themselves a place in the last eight with a win on Friday night.

Injury doubt Paul Warwick has been passed fit to play and will start the match at full-back. Ronan O'Gara returns to the side after spending some time on the sidelines with a tweaked his hamstring.

Munster coach Tony McGahan also brings in centre Keith Earls at the expense of Barry Murphy.

Munster: 15 Paul Warwick, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Ian Dowling, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Alan Quinlan, 5 Paul O'Connell (c), 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Denis Fogarty, 17 Federico Pucciariello, 18 D Ryan, 19 Niall Ronan, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Barry Murphy, 22 Denis Hurley.

Sale Sharks: 15 Mark Cueto, 14 Chris Bell, 13 Andy Tuilagi, 12 Luke McAlister, 11 David Doherty, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 JM Fernandez Lobbe (c), 7 Neil Briggs, 6 Chris Jones, 5 Dean Schofield, 4 Sebastien Chabal, 3 Eifion Roberts, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements: 16 Stuart Turner, 17 Andrew Sheridan, 18 Brent Cockbain, 19 Carl Fearns, 20 Dwayne Peel, 21 Rudi Keil, 22 Mathew Tait.