Magners League:Munster will be without Keith Earls for the trip to Cardiff this weekend after he suffered a recurrence of the groin strain that has hampered him of of late. The Ireland back will be replaced at outside centre by Lifeimi Mafi, whose spot on the right wing will be taken by Tom Gleeson.
Scrumhalf Peter Stringer will start his first game since lining out against Connacht on April 19th, joining Ronan O’Gara in the halfback axis and relegating Tomás O’Leary to the bench.
Cardiff coach Dai Young has made one change ahead of Sunday’s clash from which the fourth semi-finalist is likely to emerge. Prop Taufa'ao Filise is no available to Young and will be replaced by Scott Andrews.
Should the Blues stretch their winning streak to seven matches in all competitions and pick up a bonus point for tries scored at the Cardiff City Stadium, they would leap over the defending champions.
They would not require the bonus point if they win by more than seven points and deny Munster four tries, though Edinburgh could then sneak in with a bonus point win over Leinster.
Whatever happens, Munster have announced that Worcester centre Sam Tuitupou will join them next season, subject to the usual medical and fitness examinations, as will Leicester wing Johne Murphy.
Tommy O’Donnell, Dave Ryan and Duncan Williams have also been moved from development contracts to senior contracts, while academy players Ian Nagle, Dave Foley, Stephen Archer, Scott Deasy, Peter O’Mahony and Danny Barnes are promoted to full development contracts.
Training contracted player Declan Cusack is also promoted to a full development contract.
Munster (v Cardiff):S Deasy; D Hurley, L Mafi, J de Villiers, T Gleeson; R O'Gara, P Stringer; M Horan, D Varley, T Buckley; D O'Callaghan, B Holland; N Williams, N Ronan, D Wallace.
Replacements:M Sherry, D Ryan, A Quinlan, J Coughlan, T O'Leary, P Warwick, D Barnes.
Cardiff (v Munster):B Blair; L Halfpennym, C Laulala, J Roberts, C Czekaj; C Sweeney, D Allinson; G Jenkins, T Rhys Thomas, S Andrews; D Jones, P Tito (capt); M Molitika, M Williams, X Rush.
Replacements: G Williams, J Yapp, B Davies, S Warburton, L Williams, D Flanagan, D Hewitt