PETER O’MAHONY HAS made his long-awaited return from injury to be part of the Munster squad for tomorrow’s Guinness Pro12 clash with Zebre in Thomond Park [KO 5pm, not televised].

Munster's Peter O'Mahony Gary Carr / INPHO Gary Carr / INPHO / INPHO

It will mark O’Mahony’s first involvement in a Munster side since May 2015 as he has recovered successfully from an ACL rupture in Ireland’s World Cup clash with France last October.

In total Rassie Erasmus has made than eight changes for the game with the Italian outfit from the team that saw off Edinburgh last weekend.

Simon Zebo, Jaco Taute, Alex Wotton, Duncan Casey, Stephen Archer, Donnacha Ryan, Darren O’Shea and Tommy O’Donnell are all handed starting spots.

Simon Zebo in training with Munster this week. Tommy Dickson / INPHO Tommy Dickson / INPHO / INPHO

Zebo has overcome a rib injury, O’Donnell has completed his recovery from a concussion injury while Ryan is back after illness. There are first competitive starts for lock O’Shea and winger Wootton while Springbok international Taute will make his Munster debut.

Meanwhile Zebre have made five changes for the game with Tommaso Castello, Tommase D’Apice, Dario Chistolini, Gideon Koegelenberg and Jacopo Sorto introduced as they seek to bounce back from last week’s loss to Cardiff Blues.

Munster:

15. Simon Zebo
14. Darren Sweetnam
13. Keith Earls
12. Jaco Taute
11. Alex Wootton
10. Tyler Bleyendaal
9. Conor Murray

1. Dave Kilcoyne
2. Duncan Casey
3. Stephen Archer
4. Donnacha Ryan
5. Darren O’Shea
6. Billy Holland (captain)
7. Tommy O’Donnell
8. CJ Stander

Replacements:

16. Niall Scannell
17. James Cronin
18. John Ryan
19. Peter O’Mahony
20. Conor Oliver
21. Duncan Williams
22. Ian Keatley
23. Cian Bohane

Zebre:

15. Edoardo Padovani
14. Gabriele Di Giulio
13. Giulio Bisegni
12. Tommaso Castello
11. Giovanbattista Venditti
10. Carlo Canna
9. Guglielmo Palazzani

8. Federico Ruzza
7. Johan Meyer
6. Jacopo Sarto
5. Gideon Koegelenberg
4. Quintin Geldenhuys (captain)
3. Dario Chistolini
2. Tommaso D’Apice
1. Andrea Lovotti

Replacements:

16 Carlo Festuccia
17 Bruno Postiglioni
18 Guillermo Roan
19 Joshua Furno
20 Derick Minnie
21 Carlo Engelbrecht
22 Tommaso Boni
23 Lloyd Greeff

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