Paul O’Connell, Jerry Flannery, Keith Earls and David Wallace will all be forced to sit out but coach Tony McGahan has demanded an improvement in his side’s away form.

Munster won just twice on the road last season and McGahan said: “As this competition has evolved sides at home have got more difficult to beat.

“As the teams get stronger they make their homes a fortress and to break that down is very difficult.

“But one of the big things this year is addressing our form on the road, which wasn’t good enough.

“To progress, you really need to make sure you win your games on the road. You need a strong focus and a really strong business-like approach for away trips.

“You have to take into account that things aren’t going to go your way. You need to fight through it and we’re looking forward to displaying that this weekend.”