RUGBY - TEAM NEWS: Munster coach Tony McGahan was able to call on several experienced campaigners ahead of the top of the table clash with Magners League leaders Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium tomorrow night.
Captain Paul O'Connell, backrow Denis Leamy and scrumhalf Tomás O'Leary all make welcome returns to the starting XV after they sat out Munster's shock 11-37 defeat to Ulster at Thomond Park last weekend.
O'Connell has recovered from a knee injury, while Leamy returns after he injured his shoulder during Munster's epic encounter against the All Blacks in Thomond Park in November.
Fellow internationals David Wallace and Ian Dowling are also named but there is no place in the starting line-up for prop Marcus Horan or Keith Earls. Both were sufering from a stomach bug this week.
Ronan O'Gara lasted little over 15 minutes against Ulster before he was taken off with a hamstring injury. He was left out of the squad in the hope of recovering in time for the Heineken Cup game against Sale on January 16th.
Paul Warwick, who replaced O'Gara in the Ulster game, starts at outhalf in place of the Ireland international.
Other notable absentees include Rua Tipoki, who injured his hamstring last week and James Coughlan, who hurt his shoulder. Both are considered long-term injuries and the two are likely to miss the final two games of Munster's Heineken Cup pool phase.
Munster have lost their last two Magners League outings but find themselves just one point adrift of tomorrow's opponents in second place.
Matt Williams also named his Ulster XV to take on Edinburgh at Murrayfield tomorrow night. The coach has made four changes from the starting line-up that secured the memorable bonus point win against Munster.
Mark McCrea replaces Timoci Nagusa, who picked up an ankle injury in Limerick. David Pollock comes off the bench and starts in place of last week's captain Kieron Dawson, who starts from the bench in Edinburgh.
Captain Rory Best returns to the frontrow, while Nigel Brady, who replaced the hooker last week, is named on the bench.
"My heart rate won't change," said Williams. "We'll walk through the door and go out and do what we have to do. It's not about me, it's about the boys. Edinburgh are a powerful team of great professionals, and we will give them the respect they deserve.
"The bad news for our opposition is that there were so many aspects of our game I wasn't happy with on Saturday night. We can improve a lot in three or four areas, tactical and technically."
"We're in a really positive frame of mind and we have to take that on the road, but that shouldn't be a worry for us and there is no reason why we can't win away from home. We proved that at Thomond Park," added Williams.
"Before it was just about convincing people and now we have got the proof. We threw points away earlier in the year and now it is up to us to get them back. If we can win on Friday its incredible how close to the top of the table we can come. So we're going to give it a go," continued Williams.
Ulster currently trail Edinburgh by one point in the table but the last time they met in October Ulster won 13-9.
Elsewhere Michael Bradley has made five changes to the Connacht line-up ahead of the Scarlets' visit to the Sportsground tomorrow night.
Gavin Duffy has recovered from a hamstring injury and starts at fullback, while Keith Matthews returns to inside centre having overcome a bout of flu.
Up front, Brett Wilkinson and Sean Cronin both return to the frontrow, with Ray Ofisa starting at openside flanker having also recovered from injury.
Tim Donnelly (knee), Johnny O'Connor (calf) and Aidan Wynne (ankle) were not considered due to injury.
The Scarlets made a late change to their team this afternoon after Simon Maling tweaked his hamstring today. He will be replaced at by Vernon Cooper and French triallist Yannick N'Gog (wing) comes onto the bench.
Munster: D Hurley; D Howlett, B Murphy, L Mafi, I Dowling; P Warwick, T O'Leary; F Pucciariello, J Flannery, J Hayes; D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell (C); A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy.
Replacements: D Fogarty, T Ryan, M O'Driscoll, J O'Sullivan, P Stringer, C Doyle, T Gleeson.
Ospreys: L Byrne; J Vaughton, S Parker, A Bishop, S Williams, J Hook; M Phillips, F Tiatia, S Tandy, T Smith; J Thomas, A Jones, C Griffiths, R Hibbard; P James (C)
Replacements: H Bennett, R Bevington, L Bateman, M Holah, R Webb, D Biggar, K Phillips
Ulster: T Court, R Best (C), BJ Botha, E O'Donoghue, M McCullough, S Ferris, D Pollock, R Diack, C Schifcofske; A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, M McCrea, I Humphreys, I Boss
Replacements: N Brady, J Fitpzatrick, F Paulo, K Dawson, P Marshall, P Steinmetz, B Cunningham
Connacht: G Duffy; F Carr; N Ta'auso, K Matthews, L Bibo; I Keatley, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, S Cronin, R Morris; M McCarthy, A Farley; J Muldoon (C), R Ofisa, C Rigney.
Replacements: A Flavin, R Loughney, M Swift, A Browne, K Campbell, A Dunne, M Deane.
Scarlets:M Stoddart, D Daniel, R King, J Davies, G Morris, R Priestland, M Roberts; P John, M Rees, D Manu, D Day, V Cooper, S Easterby (c), J Edwards, D Lyons
Replacements: I Thomas, K Owens, L Reed, G Cattle, D Jones, S Jones, Y N'Gog
