Preview: Munster v Edinburgh

Interim head coach Nick Scrivener has made four changes to Edinburgh's team ahead of Friday's Magners league clash with Munster.

Interim head coach Nick Scrivener has made four changes to Edinburgh's team ahead of Friday's Magners league clash with Munster. at Thomond Park.

In the backs, James King replaces John Houston at inside centre, the Borderer having taken a blow to his knee against Dragons.
Up front, Scott MacLeod returns from Scotland service to take a place in the second row alongside Steven Turnbull.
Elsewhere in the pack, Ross Rennie returns at openside, while Fraser McKenzie moves from lock to blindside flanker.

“Fraser has shown up well this season in the second row, but we feel he also has the skills to be a direct and effective six and we'll be looking to him to impose himself in the right areas on Friday,” said Scrivener.
“James King has been knocking hard at the door for some time now. He's done well off the bench whenever he's had the chance and certainly deserves a start.
“It's great to have Scott and Ross back as well, they're quality rugby players who will thrive in a hostile environment like Thomond Park.
“A number of our guys haven't played there before, but the mark of a good player is to be inspired rather than intimidated by that sort of atmosphere.
“We'll need everyone to front up, to hit a much better level of performance than last week and sustain it over the game.”
Emphasising the need for improvement following the 30-22 loss at Rodney Parade, he added: “We played a lot of good stuff against the Dragons, but if it's happening in isolation, without the solid foundations you need to get a proper foothold, we're not going to win games.
“The big themes of our week have been improving the set-piece, how we defend the opposing team's set-piece, and how we bring more physicality and direction at the breakdown.
“The way Munster play has changed slightly in the last few years, and there's no doubt they've got a number of dangerous weapons in the backs, but the basics of their game are always at a very high level and we should take our lead from that.
“We've shown right across the season that we can play, but for us to properly take advantage of that and get back to winning matches, we need to give ourselves a platform.
“We have to look after the ball better, especially away from home, and make sure we don't let matches get away from us in a short space of time as was the case last Saturday.
“It's about tightening up our game, really fronting up physically, and achieving consistency of performance.”

Meanwhile, Munster have made eleven changes from the squad that lost in Treviso.

Six of those who started in Trevsio, Doug Howlett, Lifeimi Mafi, Paul Warwick, Damian Varley, Tommy O'Donnell and James Coughlan remain in the starting XV, joined by four Wian du Preez, Mick O'Driscoll, Donnacha Ryan and Denis Hurley who came off the bench last Sunday in Stadio Monigo.
Peter Stringer who was withdrawn from the Munster squad ahead of the Treviso game to cover for Tomas O'Leary returns to the starting line-up partnered by Ronan O'Gara and Denis Leamy is the onle cvhange that Munster make to their back-row, the Cashel man to wear the captain's armband.
Denis Fogarty and Marcus Horan return to the match day squad for the first time since September and October respectively having played with their clubs in recent weeks.
O'Driscoll who came on as a second half replacement against Treviso retains his place and sees the game on Friday as a progression.
“I think the positive from that game was the way we finished. We came back into it and put ourselves in position to achieve a victory had had looked unlikely when they went 16-3 up. We started with a lot of young lads that day and that's something else I would consider a positive.
“So I think what we have to do is look to build on that finish from the start tomorrow night. We need to bounce back and keep ourselves in line for a place in the knock out stages of the Magners which was one of our aims at the start of the season.”

Form: Table-topping Munster's four-game winning run in the Magners League came to an end in Treviso on Sunday. The Munstermen have won all eleven home matches they have played in all competitions this season. Munster
have won their last five encounters against Scottish opponents. Edinburgh have lost their last four fixtures in all competitions The Scotsmen's solo victory on the road in their last 17 matches was 10-9 at Viadana in the Magners League on 2 October. Edinburgh's most recent win in Ireland was 16-13 at Ulster on 18 September 2009. Munster have lost just once in their last eight encounters with Edinburgh since 2006: 7-12 at Murrayfield on 23 October 2009.

The teams:

Munster: 15 Johne Murphy, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Lifeimi Mafi, 12 Paul Warwick, 11 Denis Hurley, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Denis Leamy, 5 Mick O'Driscoll, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements:16 Denis Fogarty, 17 Marcus Horan, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Ian Nagle, 20 Billy Holland, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Tom Gleeson, 23 Simon Zebo.

Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 James King, 11 Tim Visser, 10 David Blair, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Netani Talei, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Fraser McKenzie, 5 Steven Turnbull, 4 Scott MacLeod, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Andrew Kelly, 1 Kyle Traynor.
Replacements:16 Alun Walker, 17 Lewis Niven, 18 David Young, 19 Alan MacDonald, 20 Roddy Grant, 21 Nick De Luca, 22 Simon Webster, 23 Jim Thompson.

Replacements:

Date: Friday, February 18
Venue: Thomond Park
Kick-off: 19.50 GMT
Referee: Nigel Owens