Henderson, Williams, O’Connell back in as Gaffney changes five

Rob Henderson, Jim Williams and Paul O’Connell all return from injury to take their place in a Munster side that shows five changes from the side that started against Glasgow last week.

Henderson takes over from Mike Mullins in the centre and he will be partnered by Shaun Payne who switches from the wing position he occupied in Glasgow. John Kelly retains his place on the wing having come on as a replacement centre for James Storey on Saturday last.

Up front Paul O’Connell not surprisingly comes into the second row with Tom Bowman missing out because of the recent good form of Trevor Hogan. Jim Williams, recovered from the elbow injury he received against Leinster, replaces Alan Quinlan in a back row that sees Denis Leamy continue in the openside position and Anthony Foley at number 8.

Alan Gaffney on the the changes. “Denis and Jim have been outstanding in their appearances to date. Last week we felt Denis needed a rest and Jim wasn’t available but now he is. There is also the question of giving players the opportunity to stake a claim and to that end we are trying to give squad members as much game time as possible.”

Munster:
C Cullen; J Kelly, S Payne, R Henderson, A Horgan; R O’Gara, P Stringer; M Horan, F Sheahan, J Hayes; T Hogan, P O’Connell; J Williams, D Leamy, A Foley (capt)

Replacements: J Flannery, G McIlwham, T Bowman, A Quinlan, M Prendergast, P Burke, P Devlin