Preview: Munster v Ospreys

Munster make just four changes from the line-up that saw off Toulon for Sunday's tasty clash against the Ospreys at Thomond Park.

Munster have made just four changes from the line-up that saw off Toulon in Round 2 for Sunday's tasty clash against the Ospreys at Thomond Park.

One of those changes is positional with Johne Murphy switched from inside centre to the wing berth occupied for the Toulon game by Denis Hurley to accommodate the selection of Sam Tuitupou who missed that game due to a ban.

Elsewhere, Tomas O'Leary gets the nod over Peter Stringer and up front, the one change sees James Coughlan in at blindside wing forward for Alan Quinlan who could win his 206th cap.

Meanwhile, the Ospreys will wait on the verdict of Marty Holah's appeal as they bracket in their New Zealander alongside youngster Justin Tipuric.

But even with the possible absence of Holah, Forwards Coach Jonathan Humphreys was left happy with what he has at his disposal.

“We're going into this game in pretty good shape generally,” he said.

“We've worked hard to build our squad depth and we've seen over the last month to six weeks some players putting their hands up. Barry Davies had his first full 80 minutes last weekend, Richard Fussell has been in excellent form and is looking a real threat every time he gets the ball, while Justin Tipuric is really blossoming, so we won't be looking at the negatives, only the positives.

“Selection has been very difficult, which is always a good sign.”

The teams:

Munster: 15 Paul Warwick, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Johne Murphy, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Denis Leamy (capt), 7 David Wallace, 6 James Coughlan, 5 Mick O'Driscoll, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Darragh Hurley, 18 John Hayes, 19 Paul O'Connell, 20 Alan Quinlan, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Lifiemi Mafi, 23 Denis Hurley.

Ospreys: 15 Barry Davies 14 Tommy Bowe 13 Andrew Bishop 12 James Hook 11 Richard Fussell 10 Dan Biggar 9 Mike Phillips 8 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Marty Holah/Justin Tipuric, 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (capt), 4 Ryan Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Mefin Davies, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Ian Gough, 20 Justin Tipuric/Tom Smith, 21 Jamie Nutbrown, 22 Sonny Parker, 23 Nikki Walker.

Date: Saturday, December 12
Kick-off: 13:00
Venue: Thomond Park
Referee: David Pearson (England)
Assistant referees: David Rose (England), Stuart Terheege (England)