Munster v Ospreys: Teams

The Ospreys are more or less at full strength after a restful week following their spate of three big games in six days last week.

Only long-term absentees such as Richard Hibbard are absent.

"We are at the make-or-break stage of the season now, we've got two games left with everything to play for in the Magners League. It's an exciting time, we know exactly what we need to do," said Ospreys coach Sean Holley.

"Everybody in the group is looking forward to these next couple of matches, and hopefully, extending our season beyond early May.

"It's not going to be easy, we face two difficult matches in Munster at Thomond Park and the the Dragons, both of whom will be looking to secure a play-off place as well.

Challenge

"I think the introduction of the play-off system has clearly been a good thing for the competition. Along with the changes to Heineken Cup qualification, it's certainly generated a lot more excitement at the business end, and just about everybody is going into the last two weekend's of the regular season with something on the line.

"We are well placed at the moment, we're in second place after picking up six points in Ireland last week, but we can't take anything for granted. We are up for this challenge, and will want to build on the good work we've done so far.

Meanwhile, Ronan O'Gara, Tomas O'Leary Marcus Horan and the rest of Munster's international contingent - with some notable exceptions - return to action.

Those exceptions are Paul O'Connell and Keith Earls who were not named in an extended squad earlier in the week while Tony Buckley, who was, has failed to recover from a knee injury picked up in the game against Connacht on Sunday.

Try scorer from the Sportsground, Scott Deasy retains his place in the starting XV but on the wing rather than full-back while debutant last Sunday Simon Zebo is also retained in the match day 22, named on the bench alongside Denis Hurley who returns from injury.

Munster: 15 Paul Warwick, 14 Tom Gleeson, 13 Lifeimi Mafi, 12 Jean De Villiers, 11 Scott Deasy, 10 Ronan O'Gara (c),9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 James Coughlan. 7 David Wallace, 6 Alan Quinlan, 5 Mick O'Driscoll, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes; 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements:16 Damien Varley, 17 Julien Brugnaut, 18 Billy Holland, 19 Niall Ronan, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Denis Hurley, 22 Simon Zebo.

Ospreys: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 James Hook, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Ryan Jones (capt), 7 Marty Holah, 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Jonathan Thomas, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Ed Shervington, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Alun Wyn Jones, 19 Filo Tiatia, 20 Jamie Nutbrown, 21 Sonny Parker, 22 Nikki Walker.