Munster v Ulster: Teams

Rua Tipoki will make his first appearance since November after being named in the Munster side to face Ulster at Thomond Park.

The talented centre has been on the sidelines since suffering a knee injury in the game against the All Blacks on November 18 - however he will now return ahead of schedule.

Kieran Lewis, Ronan O'Gara, Jerry Flannery and Donncha O'Callaghan also return to the starting XV having missed the defeat against Connacht.

However Paul O'Connell, Marcus Horan, Tomas O'Leary and Ian Dowling are all rested.

Acting Ulster captain Kieron Dawson has told his team-mates to believe in themselves when they tackle Munster in the Magners League on Saturday.

Munster are currently just a point off the top, with a game in hand on the leaders Ospreys, while Ulster are just four points off the bottom.

However Dawson, who leads the side out with regular skipper Rory Best rested, insists his side can turn the tables on the defending Heineken Cup champions.

He said: "I've said to the players a few times that the senior players in the squad have got to lead the rest of them.

"At the end of the day we are Ulster and we are going down to do a job against Munster and we have got to believe in ourselves.

"I'm looking forward to playing in a great stadium against a great side, running yourself into the ground and sitting in the changing rooms being able to look each other in the eye afterwards."

Dawson is one of four changes made from the side that lost to Leinster last time out, with Clinton Schifcoske, Tom Court and Nigel Brady also starting.

Munster: 15 D Hurley, 14 D Howlett, 13 R Tipoki, 12 L Mafi, 11 K Lewis, 10 R O'Gara, 9 P Stringer, 1 F Pucciariello, 2 J Flannery, 3 J Hayes, 4 D O'Callaghan, 5 M O'Driscol, 6 D Ryan, 7 N Ronan, 8 N Williams>
Replacements: 16 D Fogarty, 17 T Ryan, 18 J Coughlan, 19 A Quinlan, 20 M Prendergast, 21 P Warwick, 22 B Murphy.

Ulster: 15 C Schifcoske, 14 A Trimble, 13 D Cave, 12 P Wallace, 11 T Nagusa, 10 I Humphreys, 9 I Boss, 1 T Court, 2 N Brady,3 BJ Botha, 4 M McCullough, 5 E O'Donoghue, 6 S Ferris, 7 K Dawson, 8 R Diack>
Replacements: 16 S Philpott, 17 J Fitzpatrick, 18 F Paulo, 19 D Pollock, 20 P Marshall, 21 P Steinmetz, 22 B Cunningham.