Munster make changes ahead of Zebre fixture

The Munster team has been named for Saturday’s URC Round 2 clash against Zebre at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma (KO 3pm Irish time, live on RTÉ and Premier Sports).

There are four personnel changes and three positional switches to the side that secured a bonus-point win against Connacht last weekend.

Josh Wycherley and Oli Jager come into the front-row while Tony Butler and Calvin Nash come into the backline.

Thaakir Abrahams moves to the left wing, Tom Farrell moves to inside centre and Shane Daly takes up his position at outside centre.

It will be a very special occasion for Gavin Coombes as the Skibbereen man makes his 100th appearance for Munster.

Mike Haley continues at full-back where he is joined by Nash and Abrahams on the wings.

Craig Casey and Butler form the half-back partnership while Farrell and Daly start in the centre.

Wycherley, captain Diarmuid Barron and Jager pack down in the front-row with the unchanged partnership of Jean Kleyn and Fineen Wycherley lining out at second-row.

The back-row remains unchanged with Ruadhán Quinn, John Hodnett and Coombes completing the starting 15.

Jack Daly, Shay McCarthy and Conor Murray are among the replacements and are set for their first appearances of the season while Bryan Fitzgerald is also included and is in line for his competitive Munster debut.

On the injury front, Billy Burns was unavailable due to the shoulder injury he sustained against Connacht. Alex Nankivell was unable to train this week due to a knock and was unavailable for selection. Liam Coombes picked up a knock at training this week and was also unavailable.

Munster: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Shane Daly, Tom Farrell, Thaakir Abrahams; Tony Butler, Craig Casey; Josh Wycherley, Diarmuid Barron (c), Oli Jager; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Ruadhán Quinn, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.

Replacements: Niall Scannell, Jeremy Loughman, John Ryan, Jack Daly, Jack O’Donoghue, Conor Murray, Bryan Fitzgerald, Shay McCarthy.