Munster will be without European stalwart John Kelly and new Irish international Denis Leamy for their tough trip to France to meet Castres Olympique in the third round of Heineken Cup Pool 4 matches on Friday night.
Kelly is still suffering from an ankle injury sustained while training with the national squad, while new cap Leamy picked up a cut in his ear in last weekend's Celtic League game in Edinburgh.
Munster coach Alan Gaffney has announced a squad of 26 to travel to France for what will be a record equalling seventh Heineken Cup meeting between the two teams. The team will be announced a 12 noon on Thursday.
Irish international prop John Hayes will become the third Munster player to win an ERC Elite Award for playing 50 times in the Heineken Cup when he packs down in the front row. Skipper Anthony Foley leads the way with 62 appearances, while Kelly has played 51 times.
Munster Squad: P Burke, C Cullen, P Devlin, R Henderson, A Horgan, J Holland, M Lawlor, M Mullins, R O'Gara, S Payne, M Prendergast, P Stringer; J Blaney, AJ Flannery, A Foley, J Hayes, M Horan, T Hogan, S Keogh, G McIlwham, P O'Connell, D O'Callaghan, A Quinlan, F Sheahan, D Wallace, J Williams.
