It will be a proud day for the Scannell/O’Sullivan families when Munster take the field against Zebre in the Guinness Pro14 in Milan tomorrow night.

Niall will lead a team that includes his younger brother Rory and their cousin, Jack O'Sullivan.

Having trailed 6-0 after 14 minutes, Munster added their points in sevens to take a 14-6 lead into the break but it was not until Conor Murray pounced off the back of a ruck in 47th minute that the home side truly put this game beyond Ospreys in front of 19,891, the biggest crowd of the weekend in the Champions Cup. Not bad for a dead rubber.

Joey Carbery makes his first start of the season at out-half.

Carbery has spent the last two months rehabbing an ankle injury.

The 23-year-old made his Irish debut just over a year ago against the USA but his hopes of pushing on from there were dashed when he fractured his leg against Connacht on the opening weekend in January.

Dave Kilcoyne makes his return from a calf injury to start for Munster against Connacht in tomorrow's PRO14 clash.

There are three changes to the team that defeated Ospreys.

De Allende was a star performer as South Africa clinched the World Cup with victory over England on Saturday, having scored the crucial try in their semi-final win over Wales.

The host will be without a sizeable number of internationals including record try-scoring wing Josh Adams along with fellow Welsh stars, Owen Lane and Hallam Amos.

Jack O’Donoghue, the only forward to be retained from the victory over the Ospreys, captains the side for the second time in his career.

Jack O’Sullivan and Jed Holloway both made their debuts as part of the Munster pack, with the Waratahs import Holloway lining out in the second row alongside captain Billy Holland.

Those newcomers are among five changes by Johann van Graan to the side which lost their last Pro14 game 40-16 to the Cheetahs.

Munster head coach Johann van Graan knows all there is to know about South Africa’s major domestic competition, the Currie Cup. Given that the Cheetahs — one of his side’s two Guinness PRO14 opponents over the next fortnight — were recently crowned champions of the 130-year-old tournament, he is aware of the challenge awaiting his team.

Sammy Arnold is wary of a Connacht team with nothing to lose at Thomond Park tomorrow night as Munster bid to rebound from their European semi-final defeat to Saracens.

Munster will not rush back injured trio Joey Carbery, Keith Earls and Dave Kilcoyne for Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 clash at home to Connacht unless they are 100% fit, coach Johann van Graan has insisted.

Munster boss Johann van Graan insists he is committed to improving his existing squad as the province bids to win silverware for the first time in eight years but that will be without South Africa centre Jaco Taute, who was unveiled today by Leicester Tigers as a new signing for next season.

Munster coach Johann van Graan praised the strength and depth of his squad after they came from behind to oust Benetton Rugby in Treviso on Friday night.

Johann van Graan sends a mix-and-match Munster side into Stadio Monigo tonight with one eye firmly on next weekend’s European semi-final with Saracens.

Three Academy players are included in the squad.

Johann van Graan believes some of his frontline stars have earned a well-earned break after helping Munster secure a Guinness PRO14 play-off berth with a thumping 45-21 win over Cardiff Blues in Cork on Friday.

Three games to go in the shake-up for the Guinness PRO14 play-offs and still all to play for as far as Munster and Cardiff Blues are concerned, going into what promises to be an intriguing clash in Cork this evening (7.35pm).

Munster have named their starting team for the Pro14 clash with Cardiff in Musgrave Park.

Johann van Graan has admitted Joey Carbery’s latest hamstring injury is “a big concern” as he failed to give a timeframe on his first-choice fly-half’s recovery with a European semi-final date less than three weeks away.

Two tries from Keith Earls and a brilliant defensive effort kept Edinburgh at bay and helped Munster book a place in the Heineken Champions Cup semi-finals in a close-fought tussle at Murrayfield on Saturday.

JJ Hanrahan knows there’s an opportunity to stake a claim for a European quarter-final start when Munster face Zebre in Limerick tomorrow night but since a lightbulb moment with Alby Mathewson earlier this season, the fly-half will not waste energy worrying about it.

Earning a place in the team on the biggest days of all is the ambition of every member of the Munster squad. But when you ply your trade in the centre, that becomes a very difficult ambition to achieve. So when Dan Goggin got the nod from Johann van Graan for the away game against Leinster at the Aviva Stadium in October, following up with starts against Exeter Chiefs and Gloucester in the European Cup, the Young Munster man’s confidence rocketed sky high.

"We're always talking about the great values of rugby, there were no great values there on Saturday I can tell you."

No matter how well things are going, there is always something to knock you off kilter.

JJ Hanrahan stepped into the breach for Munster and guided the province to a convincing victory over Castres at Thomond Park as Johann van Graan’s side stretched their lead at the top of Heineken Champions Cup Pool 2 at the halfway stage.

Munster coach Johann van Graan praised stand-in captain Tyler Bleyendaal and his men for carving out a bonus point win at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein yesterday.

Returning out-half Tyler Bleyendaal will captain Munster in Sunday’s PRO14 encounter against Cheetahs, head coach Johann van Graan confirmed yesterday.

Ireland are hopeful that Rob Kearney will overcome the shoulder injury he suffered at the weekend in time for November’s Guinness Series of Test matches.

Munster boss Johann van Graan was on Monday counting the cost of two highly physical Heineken Champions Cup games as he assessed his reduced selection options for this Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 visit of Glasgow Warriors to Thomond Park.

Keith Earls remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Johann van Graan praised Keith Earls’s selflessness in putting his side first after ruling himself out of Munster’s European clash at Exeter just before kick-off.

Johann van Graan’s bid to get his first full European campaign off to a winning start could not have come in more difficult circumstances, yet the Munster head coach has learned enough in his short time in charge to expect the unexpected on Heineken Champions Cup away days.

Dan Goggin could easily have fallen between the cracks as he recovered from long-term injury while Munster transitioned from one boss to the next last season.

Leinster 30 Munster 22

Munster 64 Ulster 7

Joey Carbery may not be happy to take the late hits but if it frees up a teammate then he will continue to endure the pain for the Munster cause.

Captain Peter O'Mahony is one of a host of stars named in the Munster team to play the Ospreys in the Pro14 tomorrow.

Munster’s squad depth ahead of the new campaign was given a stern test by English heavyweights Exeter Chiefs as Johann van Graan’s team was well beaten in Cork last night.

Joe Schmidt described choosing the 32 players he will take to Australia next month as the most difficult process of his tenure as Ireland head coach but it is clear he has selected a squad with a series victory over the Wallabies at the top of his priority list.