Tadhg Beirne will make his first Munster appearance since January, with the province going full-strength for Saturday's EPCR Challenge Cup round of 16 clash with Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park.
The Munster captain is among 10 changes to the side that lost 34-31 to the Bulls in the URC last week.
Five of last week's starting side miss out due to injury, with wing Calvin Nash, hooker Diarmuid Barron and number eight Brien Gleeson all out with concussion, while second rows Jean Kleyn (ankle) and Fineen Wycherley (knee) are also ruled out.
In spite of those injuries, head coach Clayton McMillan has been able to select a strong starting XV for what is Munster's first Challenge Cup game since 2011.
Beirne partners Edwin Edogbo in a powerful second row, while experienced props John Ryan and Jeremy Loughman pack down either side of hooker Lee Barron.
Gavin Coombes has recovered from illness to start at number 8, with Alex Kendellen at openside flanker, and Jack O'Donoghue is back in the team at blindside.
Craig Casey and Jack Crowley continue in the half-backs after impressing in Pretoria last week, with Ireland international Tom Farrell alongside Alex Nankivell in the centre.
Ben O'Connor keeps his place at full-back, with the pace of Thaakir Abrahams and Diarmuid Kilgallen brought onto the wings.
"It's an opportunity to play for some silverware," McMillan (above) said.
"I think it's three games from here to the final of Challenge Cup and we have every intention of putting our best foot forward to try and do that. It won't be easy, but that's where our mindset is at.
"The rest of the season is effectively every game is a final, isn't it?
"In the URC, the table is congested and there's no easy games and everyone's going to be scrapping for an opportunity to get into the top eight. So, I guess our overall mindset is from this point in, it's knockout rugby and that's the way we're approaching it."
Saturday will be the fifth meeting of Munster and Exeter, with two home wins apiece and one draw, which came in their first ever clash in 2018.
The Chiefs struggled last season, finishing second from bottom in the Premiership, but Rob Baxter's side have looked reborn in this campaign, doubling last year's win total already which has seen them climb up to fourth in the table,
"I think they're one of the best defensive outfits in the Premiership," the Munster head coach added.
"And they give up about 17 points per game on average, which is really good.
"They've got some exceptional players, particularly out wide, and they'll challenge you through the middle of the park. So, I think they've got a good east-west game and good north-south game. You know, they can sort of play the game in multiple ways."
Munster come into their game off the back of a bruising tour of South Africa where they were beaten by both the Sharks and the Bulls.
However, McMillan is taking the positives from how his players earned two bonus-points in their defeat at Loftus Versfeld last Saturday, having taken a 45-0 hammering the previous week.
"It was clearly a massive punch in the face against the Sharks, and it was a pretty sombre environment there for a couple of days.
"But if you recognise that sort of feeling as care in your group, then there's positives in that.
"For long periods in the game on the weekend against the Bulls, I think we saw a much better version of ourselves. There's still moments where we lost our way a little bit and we let in a couple of soft tries and potentially didn't take a couple that presented themselves.
"We didn't quite get across the line, but there's certainly much more to be proud of around the performance than disappointed," he said.
Among the replacements this weekend, there is a potential debut for 21-year-old Irish-qualified New Zealander Ben O'Donovan (above).
The former New Zealand U20 scrum-half, whose grandparents live in Dublin, joined Munster from Canterbury in February on an 18-month contract.
"He'd been part of the Crusaders academy, anyone that sort of comes through that route and out of the Canterbury pathway program, we know they'll be well coached.
"He's a different profile of player. He's a little bit bigger than your average half-back. He's quite a solid bloke.
"He likes to have a wee snipe around the edges, a nice crisp pass.
"He's a guy that has shown a lot of potential in other parts of the world and we're excited to see what he brings here for us."
Munster: Ben O'Connor; Thaakir Abrahams, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Diarmuid Kilgallen; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Lee Barron, John Ryan; Edwin Edogbo, Tadhg Beirne (capt); Jack O’Donoghue, Alex Kendellen, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Niall Scannell, Michael Milne, Michael Ala'alatoa, Tom Ahern, Ruadhán Quinn, Ben O’Donovan, Seán O’Brien, John Hodnett.
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