Keith Earls, who injured a knee in the opening minute of Munster’s RaboDirect PRO12 clash with Leinster in early November, returns to the side for the Heineken Cup encounter with Scarlets at Thomond Park Stadium on Sunday.
He comes straight into the side as a replacement for Will Chambers, while Denis Leamy starts in place of the injured Peter O'Mahony (jaw).
Donncha O'Callaghan regains the number four shirt, having come on as a 55th minute replacement for Donncha Ryan in Llanelli last week. Ryan is listed among the replacements.
Earls did his first full-training late last week, before coming through two sessions this week with flying colours. If he comes through tomorrow's captain's run unscathed, he'll line up alongside Lifeimi Mafi in the Munster midfield.
Leamy gets the number six shirt after an impressive showing in the second half last weekend, when he came on for O'Mahony.
Tommy O'Donnell fills the gap on the bench created by Leamy's promotion, while Stephen Archer is preferred as loose-head prop cover for BJ Botha.
Munster team to face Scarlets in the Heineken Cup on Saturday 17 December at Thomond Park, kick-off 12.45pm:
15 D Hurley 14 J Murphy 13 K Earls 12 L Mafi 11 S Zebo 10 R O'Gara 9 C Murray 1 W du Preez 2 D Varley 3 BJ Botha 4 D O'Callaghan 5 P O'Connell (captain) 6 D Leamy 7 N Ronan 8 J Coughlan.
Replacments: 16 D Fogarty 17 M Horan 18 S Archer 19 D Ryan 20 T O'Donnell 21 T O'Leary 22 I Keatley 23 D Barnes.
