Munster and Ulster name teams

Munster have made two changes to their side for Saturday's Magners League clash against Ulster at Thomond Park, while Paddy Wallace returns for Ulster.

Both Munster changes come in the pack with Academy player Stephen Archer coming into the front row in place of the injured Darragh Hurley and Alan Quinlan taking over in the backrow ahead of Niall Ronan, who is named among the replacements.

Although they're only five points off the pace, all the talk is of Munster's current performances with an acknowledgement from team manager Shaun Payne that they need to improve.

He said: 'We are acutely aware that our performances to date haven't been up to scratch and we'll be looking to do something about that Saturday.

'There has been a fair bit of disruption recently but we're not using that as an excuse. I think there has been parts of our play that has been very good at times in recent games but we're lacking consistency and that's an area we're looking to improve.'

Paddy Wallace returns to captain the Ulster side after being rested last week under the IRFU World Cup Programme, in-place of Ian Whitten, who starts on the bench.

Stephen Ferris returns to the No 6 shirt after recovering from an injury which kept him out of the Leinster game last weekend, while Ed O'Donoghue replaces an injured Dan Tuohy in the second row.

Ulster Coach Brain McLaughlin said: 'You've always got to be wary of Munster. When you think of what has happened to them in the past month, they are going to want to get back on track.

'They are playing at Thomond, where they're extremely strong, so we are under no illusions about what we're going to face down there.'

Munster v Ulster in the Magners League at Thomond Park on Saturday, 5pm:

MUNSTER XV: Paul Warwick; Ian Dowling, Lifeimi Mafi, Jean de Villiers, Keith Earls; Ronan O'Gara, Tomas O'Leary; Julien Brugnaut, Denis Fogarty, Stephen Archer; Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell capt; Alan Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy.

Replacements: Damien Varley, Dave Kilcoyne, Mick O'Driscoll, Niall Ronan, Peter Stringer, Denis Hurley, Felix Jones.

ULSTER XV: Clinton Schifcofske, Timoci Nagusa, Darren Cave,Paddy Wallace, Andrew Trimble, Ian Humphreys, Isaac Boss, Tom Court, Nigel Brady, Brendon Botha, Ed O'Donoghue, Ryan Caldwell, Stephen Ferris, Willie Faloon Chris Henry.

Replacements: Andy Kyriacou, Bryan Young, Tamaiti Horua, Robbie Diack, Paul Marshall, Ian Whitten, Simon Danielli.