Leinster coach Michael Cheika has opted to hand captain's armband to Leo Cullen ahead of his team's Heineken Cup semi-final showdown with Munster on Saturday.
Cheika has made two changes from the Leinster team that beat Glasgow 36-13, with Shane Horgan also returning to the starting line-up.
Horgan came off the bench to score a second half try at the RDS last Saturday, and has been named on the right wing, with Isa Nacewa switching to full-back and Girvan Dempsey dropping to the bench.
Cullen will also start the Croke Park tie after being used as a replacement against Glasgow in last weekend's Magners League fixture.
He comes in for Devin Toner in the second row, and takes over the captaincy from flanker Shane Jennings. Cullen had been rested against Leinster and his return comes as no surprise, but they are without British & Irish Lions full-back Rob Kearney, who has yet to fully recover from mumps.
Leinster's other three Lions, outside centre Brian O'Driscoll, left wing Luke Fitzgerald and no 8. Jamie Heaslip all start, as does inside centre Gordon D'Arcy after being withdrawn early in the Glasgow game.
And captain Cullen was quick to play the underdog card. He said: "We are the underdogs but we will give it our best shot and everyone is very excited about the whole thing. We had a chance to train on the ground, which was great and now we just want the match to start.
"A few of us have been around for a good while and Leinster have probably not done as well as we would have liked in this competition.
"We are not getting any younger so we probably have only got a few more years of opportunities and we have to maximise massive occasions like this when we get in these positions.
"A win is all you want at this stage and it is all about knockout rugby on the day.
"Looking back at the Harlequins quarter-final there were defensive aspects we were really pleased with but from an attack point of view we felt a bit disappointed.
"There are always areas you want to improve on and what we are desperate for tomorrow is getting a good start and taking our opportunities."
Munster, fresh from being crowned Magners League champions, make two changes from the side which beat the Scarlets 29-10 at Musgrave Park last Friday.
The one enforced change sees Tomas O'Leary drop out, after the Lions scrum-half broke his left ankle during the match, ruling him out of the tour to South Africa. Peter Stringer comes in.
Tony McGahan's other switch is to recall Lions captain Paul O'Connell in place of Mick O'Driscoll, who wore the armband and filled his place in the second row in the skipper's absence.
O'Connell is joined by six other Lions in the Munster ranks, with Donnacha O'Callaghan joining him in the second row.
Fellow Lions in outside centre Keith Earls, outside-half Ronan O'Gara, hooker Jerry Flannery and flankers Alan Quinlan and David Wallace are also handed starts.
Munster were confirmed domestic champions on Thursday night, after the Ospreys could not earn the bonus point needed to keep the title race alive in a 27-18 victory over Welsh regional rivals Newport Gwent Dragons.
Munster: P Warwick; D Howlett, K Earls, L Mafi, I Dowling; R O'Gara, P Stringer; M Horan, J Flannery, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell [capt], A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy Replacements: D Fogarty, T Buckley, M O'Driscoll, N Ronan, M Prendergast, B Murphy, Denis Hurley
Leinster: I Nacewa; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald; F Contepomi, C Whitaker; C Healy, B Jackman, S Wright, L Cullen [capt], M O'Kelly, R Elsom, S Jennings, J Heaslip Replacements: J Fogarty, R McCormack, D Toner, S O'Brien, S Keogh, J Sexton, G Dempsey Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
