Peter Stringer will captain a Munster side which also sees Ronan O'Gara return to provincial action for Saturday's Magners Celtic League clash with Edinburgh at Musgrave Park.

Denis Hurley is also included in the starting line-up after recovering from an ankle injury he picked up during the opening game of the season against the US Eagles at Toyota Park in Chicago.

There was more good news for coach Declan Kidney after Frankie Sheahan escaped IRFU disciplinary action after being cited for an incident against Glasgow Warriors. Sheahan is named on a bench where Kidney has also left a vacancy for a backrow.

Kidney explained his reasons for giving Stringer the captain's armband: "Peter has a few games under his belt while this is Ronan's first game back. He (Stringer) is one of our natural leaders so in the circumstances the choice was fairly straightforward really."

Aside from O'Gara coming in for Paul Warwick and Hurley for Shaun Payne, other changes in the backline see Kieran Lewis return to the outside centre with Rua Tipoki named on the bench.

In the pack, Federico Pucciariello replaces Marcus Horan; Jerry Flannery comes in for Sheahan and Denis Leamy, who came on as a second half replacement, retains the number 8 jersey.

"Obviously everyone cannot play in every game," said Kidney of the changes. "We have to look at various combinations and it's always tough on those who are left out but there is a lot of rugby to be played yet this season."

In terms of the significance of this game, Kidney said, " We lost this fixture last year and it had a significant bearing on where we finished in the League. We're still disappointed over losing here last time (against Cardiff Blues) and would really need to get our home record back in order.

"This is also a game in hand we have on the Welsh sides and we have the opportunity to close the gap on them."

Munster:  D Hurley; B Carney, K Lewis, L Mafi, I Dowling; R O'Gara, P Stringer capt; F Pucciariello, J Flannery, J Hayes; D O'Callaghan,M O'Driscoll; A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy. Replacements: T Buckley, F Sheahan, A Foley, AN Other, T O'Leary, P Warwick, R Tipoki