Munster sticking with youth for Ulster clash

Munster have named a 31-strong squad for the trip to Belfast and the RaboDirect PRO12 clash with Ulster on Friday evening.

The IRFU player management policy has rendered Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell, Donnacha Ryan, Conor Murray, Ronan O’Gara and Keith Earls unavailable for selection.

With these big names missing, Tony McGahan will be hoping his young players can replicate the winning performance they produced against Connacht on St. Stephen’s Day.

Another big absentee from the squad is Peter O'Mahony who continues to recover from a jaw injury.

The squad train today in Cork and the side to play Ulster will be announced tomorrow at lunchtime.

Munster Squad: Johne Murphy, Denis Hurley, Sean Scanlon, Luke O'Dea, Danny Barnes, Simon Zebo, Ian Keatley, Duncan Williams, Tomas O'Leary, Tom Gleeson, Will Chambers, Scott Deasy, Lifeimi Mafi, Marcus Horan, Wian du Preez, John Ryan, Stephen Archer, D Kilcoyne, BJ Botha, Denis Fogarty, Sean Henry, Damien Varley, Billy Holland, Mick O'Driscoll, Ian Nagle, Niall Ronan, Dave O'Callaghan, Tommy O'Donnell, Denis Leamy, Paddy Butler, James Coughlan.