Eric Miller's shoulder injury, sustained in Leinster's 32-20 win over Bridgend on Wednesday night, is not expected to keep him out of contention for selection for the friendly against Swansea tomorrow afternoon.
Miller was taken off in the first half but the damage was not as serious as initially suspected which, excepting Emmet Farrell, Peter McKenna and Brian O'Driscoll, gives coach Matt Williams a full compliment of players from which to chose.
Girvan Dempsey made an interesting move from full back to outhalf in the second half against Bridgend while James Norton did well on the wing. Although the team will not be picked until today, Andy Dunne and Trevor Brennan may each get a run against the Welsh.
Munster have a more familiar look than last week's eye catching cocktail. The big guns are back after the summer tours although coach Declan Kidney is still undecided at full back and outside centre. Dominic Crotty and Dermot O'Sullivan have been named at full back while John Kelly, Jeremy Staunton and Killian Keane have been pencilled-in for the centre's shirt. Kidney, however hopes that Crotty and Kelly have recovered sufficiently from minor injuries to take their places. From the beginning Kidney has stated that the warm up matches serve a number of functions, not least to give fringe players a chance to state their claims. Kelly played most of last season on the wing and now finds a starting place in the centre while John O'Neill, who was a replacement during the successful European Cup campaign, finds himself in the starting fifteen.
The other major returns sees Mick Galwey in the second row as captain with John Langford, Peter Stringer and Ronan O'Gara all returning for the first time since the European Cup final.
A talented front row is another feature of the side where prop Peter Clohessy assumes the senior role alongside hooker Frank Sheahan and Marcus Horan. With Keith Wood back in England and international prop John Hayes out injured, the cover still looks rather good.
Ravenhill tonight, where Ulster will try to carry on from their ten try thrashing of Coventry, welcomes the return of Paddy Johns to the Ulster bench following an operation on his wrist. It is expected that Johns will take part in the match against Edinburgh Reivers where Coach Harry Williams has made four changes to the team which started last week. Justin Fitzpatrick starts at prop for Simon Best while Australian Brad Free comes in for Stephen Bell at scrum half. Tyrone Howe and Grant Henderson also take up starting positions with Sheldon Coulter and Bryn Cunningham on the bench.
A more cosmopolitan meeting takes place in Galway tomorrow where Connacht meet Italian side L'Aquila. No full back has yet been named although the side welcomes the return of Junior Charlie at number eight and Martin Cahill to the front row where he props for the new South African signing Marnus Uijs.
ULSTER: G Henderson; J Topping, R Constable, S Stewart, T Howe; D Humphreys, B Free; J Fitzpatrick, A Clarke, C Boyd, M Blair, G Longwell, R Nelson, A Ward, T McWhirter
MUNSTER: D Crotty or D O'Sullivan; J O'Neill, J Kelly or J Staunton or K Keane; J Holland, A Horgan; R O'Gara, P Stringer; M Horan, F Sheahan, P Clohessy, M Galwey (C), J Langford, A Quinlan, D Wallace, A Foley.
CONNACHT: A N Other; D Romney, M Smyth, M Murphy, R Lee; E Elwood, J Ferris; J Screene, M Uijs, M Cahill, M McConnell, C Rigney, I Dillon, J O'Connor, J Charlie.
