Munster boss Rassie Erasmus has made five changes to his starting XV for Saturday’s Champions Cup quarter final against Toulouse at Thomond Park.
The Irish province welcome back their returning international contingent of Donnacha Ryan, CJ Stander, Conor Murray, Keith Earls and Simon Zebo.
All five last lined out for the province in Munster’s Round 6 Champions Cup game against Racing 92 at the end of January.
In an unchanged front row hooker Niall Scannell makes his 50th appearance for the province as he scrums down next to Dave Kilcoyne and John Ryan.
Ryan will pack down alongside Billy Holland in the second row as Stander starts at number eight with captain Peter O’Mahony and Tommy O’Donnell again on the flanks.
Conor Murray is named alongside pivot Tyler Bleyendaal at scrum-half while winger Keith Earls and full-back Simon Zebo complete the changes to the back-line.
A further boost for the squad sees Francis Saili make an earlier than expected return from a knee ligament injury to be named in the replacements, while Dave O’Callaghan is named in his first European squad of the season.
Meanwhile Touluose head coach Ugo Mola has named a strong starting XV for this fixture. Mola has made five changes to his run-on side that lost to Bordeaux-Bègles in the Top 14 last weekend.
In the back-line, there is one change with Samoa international Paul Perez replacing Sofiane Guitoune on the left wing.
Meanwhile, in the forwards, veteran back-row Thierry Dusautoir and Yacouba Camara come into the run-on side on the flanks at the expense of Tala Gray and Joe Tekori.
Richie Gray comes in for Patricio Albacete in the second row and will pack down alongside Yoann Maestri while Cyrille Baille is preferred to Gurthro Steenkamp at loosehead prop.
Mola has opted for a six/two split in favour of forwards amongst the replacements with former All Black Luke McAlister and Arthur Bonneval the only backs while there is also place for Gray and Tekori on the bench.
Form: This will be the sixth match between the two former champions with the last four encounters all coming in the knockout stage (three Munster wins, one for Toulouse). Munster have won 31 of their last 34 home games (L3) in the European Cup and have won seven of eight home quarter-final ties. Ulster in 2012 are the only club to win a quarter-final at Thomond Park. Toulouse have lost their last two quarter-final matches (including a 47-23 defeat at Thomond Park in 2014) and the last time they reached the semi-finals in 2011, they lost to Leinster. Munster and Toulouse have the tournament record number of appearances in the knockout stage with 16 apiece This will be the 157th match for both clubs in the competition. Munster conceded four tries in the pool stage, fewer than any other side with all four scores coming in the second half. Toulouse have lost six of their last seven away games in the Champions Cup, with their one win in this period coming against Zebre in Parma. CJ Stander made exactly 100 carries in the pool stage, 22 more than any other player. He and Jamie Heaslip (who misses Leinster’s quarter-final against Wasps) are the only two players to have played every minute of the competition to date. Toulouse averaged more offloads per game than any other side in the pool stage (23.7), while Joe Tekori made 21, six more than any other player.
The teams:
Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Tyler Bleyendaal, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Billy Holland, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 James Cronin, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Dave O’Callaghan, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Francis Saili, 23 Andrew Conway
Toulouse: 15 Maxime Medard, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Paul Perez, 10 Jean-Marc Doussain, 9 Sebastien Bezy, 8 Francois Cros, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Yoann Maestri, Richie Gray, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Gurthro Steenkamp, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Tala Gray, 20 Piula Faasalele, 21 Joe Tekori, 22 Luke McAlister, 23 Arthur Bonneval
Date: Saturday, April 2
Venue: Thomond Park
Kick-off: 17:45 local
Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Assistant Referees: Greg Garner (England), Craig Maxwell-Keys (England)
TMO: David Grashoff (England)
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