Denis Hurley, who missed last week's win at Edinburgh, returns at the expense of the rested Rua Tipoki.

Ireland prop John Hayes will also sit the Cork game out as he continues to recover from the viral infection that meant he was a late withdrawal for the Edinburgh tie.

With pre-season victories over the US Eagles and London Irish preceding the win at Murrayfield and evidently increased competition for starting places, tMunster eam manager Shaun Payne has been happy with what he has seen so far.

"I think it says something when Denis (Hurley), who broke into the side to win a Heineken Cup medal last year, was excluded for last week's game in Edinburgh," he insisted.

"It's great to see the competition there. Barry (Murphy) is back in top form after injury and Anthony (Horgan) successfully came through his pre-season programme and is performing at a top level.

"Last week Keith Earls had a pretty special game, scoring one of our tries. He did just about everything right and for me was a revelation. He's only going to get better."

MUNSTER Squad (v Newport Gwent Dragons): Backs (10) - Tomas O'Leary, Peter Stringer, Ronan O'Gara, Paul Warwick, Ian Dowling, Lifeimi Mafi, Barry Murphy, Doug Howlett, Keith Earls, Denis Hurley.

Forwards (12) - Federico Pucciariello, Marcus Horan, Jerry Flannery, Frankie Sheahan, Tony Buckley, Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell (capt), Mick O'Driscoll, Donnacha Ryan, John O'Sullivan, Justin Melck, David Wallace.