Wallace has been named among the replacements while Mike Sherry makes his first start since September having suffered an ankle injury in a club game at that time.

Also included in the starting XV is Simon Zebo who missed the game in Newport through international commitment while Tomas O’Leary’s call up to Ireland side means a place on the bench for Academy player Cathal Sheridan.

Munster: F Jones, D Hurley, S Tokula, L Mafi, S Zebo; S Deasy, D Williams; W du Preez, M Sherry, S Archer; B Holland, M O’Driscoll capt; Dave O’Callaghan, T O’Donnell, P Butler. Replacements: D Fogarty, M Horan, BJ Botha, I Nagle, D Wallace, C Sheridan, I Keatley, L O’Dea.

Former Dragons and Newport star Rod Snow will be attending the game as well as former Newport and Springbok sensation Gary Teichmann and Welsh stalwart Max Boyce.

Former Dragons and now World Record holder Richard Parks will also be on Parade as he continues his campaign to raise £1 million for Marie Curie Cancer Care on the back of his extraordinary 737 Challenge.

Representatives from the region’s Premiership teams will be invited to join the Dragons as they look to get another win over their regional rivals and with bonfire night on the 5th, there will be a fireworks display for supporters to admire from the stadium at the end of the game.

The Bisley Stand is part of the Rodney Parade regeneration, set to continue over the coming years has already provided fantastic corporate hospitality and non-match day facilities as well as enhancing the match day experience for supporters on the East side of the ground.

Dragons team for Blues
Martyn Thomas, Tonderai Chavhanga, Adam Hughes, Ashley Smith (c), Aled Brew, Jason Tovey, Wayne Evans, Phil Price, Rhys Buckley, Dan Way, Adam Jones, Scott Morgan, Andrew Coombs, Gavin Thomas, Lewis Evans

Lloyd Burns, Nathan Williams, Nathan Buck, Rob Sidoli, Tom Brown, Joe Bedford, Lewis Robling, Steffan Jones.

The Lions will leave tonight for Cardiff, and move onto Newport on Sunday.

In the starting XV Alberto Sgarbi, who suffered back problems in the last Six Nations game against Scotland, returns to action, as does winger Andrew Vilk in the backs.

Several new faces feature in the forwards too. Both locks Antonio Pavanello and Corniel Van Zyl will be back, while Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet will be moved to loose-head prop and Lorenzo Cittadini will feature as tight-head.

In the back row, Manoa Vosawai will play as flanker, while Brendan Williams starts from the bench

Here is the team for the match:

15 Luke McLean
14 Michele Sepe
13 Alberto Sgarbi
12 Gonzalo Garcia
11 Andrew Vilk
10 Kristopher Burton
9 Fabio Semenzato
8 Robert Barbieri
7 Benjamin Vermaak
6 Manoa Vosawai
5 Corniel Van Zyl
4 Antonio Pavanello (captain)
3 Lorenzo Cittadini
2 Leonardo Ghiraldini
1 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet

Replacements:

16 Diego Vidal
17 Michele Rizzo
18 Pedro Di Santo
19 Valerio Bernabò
20 Gonzalo Padrò
21 Paul Derbyshire
22 Simon Picone
23 Brendan Williams

Head Coach: Franco Smith.

A statement from the Dragons says “As previously announced, the region’s LV= Cup games against Sale Sharks this weekend and next weekend’s game against the Scarlets will be led by the assistant coaching team as part of the region’s ongoing policy of coach development.”

The Dragons also said: there will be no further comment on this issue until disciplinary proceedings have been completed.

The action follows a spat with Walesonline reporter Andy Howell, who had questions Turner’s future at the region following a dreadful HEC campaign in which the Dragons failed to chalk up a single win.

Turner’s recent behaviour has been seen as erratic in some quarters – particularly amongst fans. His claims that Dan Lydiate had been injured by Wales following an assessment had been met with incredulity, and prompted the WRU to issue a statement repudiating Turner’s claims.  

Following his award of Magners Coach of the Year last season, all seemed rosy in the garden, but bad results and a poor media image have turned things for the worse.

The match should have been played in December, but Newport were unable to travel to Devon due to bad weather in south Wales.

Unfortunately, now neither Albion nor Newport can progress through to the quarter-finals of the competition.

However, Albion’s chairman of rugby Graham Dawe, whose team have faced tough away trips to Leinster, Cornish Pirates and Worcester in their opening three games, still believes tonight’s the Anglo-Welsh clash will be a competitive affair.

The teams played out a 3-3 draw when they met at Rodney Parade in the cup last season and Albion claimed a narrow one point win when Newport last visited Brickfields in August 2009.

"Although the game won’t have a say on the quarter-final places, I think it will be competitive for the full 80 minutes," said Dawe.

"We will be looking to create a great atmosphere tonight at Brickfields."

Albion will hand first home starts to youngsters Rupert Freestone, Sam Matavesi, Max Venables and Jamie Tripcony.

Teeanger hooker Freestone made his first appearance in an Albion shirt at the weekend against Worcester Warriors at Sixway.

However, Albion, who have an important league match had Doncaster on Saturday, have named the experienced Ryan Hopkins, Tom Skelding, Wayne Sprangle, Sam Hocking, Fionn McLoughlin and Cameron Mitchell in their side. They have also have plenty of exeperience players on the bench for the match.

Tickets for the match can be purchased on the gate starting at £1 for children and £14 for adults.

Albion: M Venables, F McLoughlin, C Mitchell, S Johns, J Coleman, M Lee, T Kessell, M Manton, R Freestone, R Hopkins, J Tripcony, T Skelding, W Sprangle, S Matavesi, S Hocking. Reps: R Cushion, A Davies, K Hallett, D Morton, A Carpenter, D Collier, S-M Stephen.

When Newport won 25-23 away to Currie last week, former Cornish ‘Pirate’ Rhys Jones landed a match winning penalty in injury time. Besides Rhys, two other former Pirates players based in Newport are Nicky Griffiths, who has competed for the scrum-half shirt, and Joe Bearman, who left the Pirates to join the Dragons in 2006. On the comeback trail after recovering from a groin injury that threatened his career, Joe made a cameo appearance for Pontypool on Tuesday evening, when he gained valuable game time as a replacement in a Welsh Premiership match against Cardiff.

The Cornish Pirates presently top Pool A in the British & Irish Cup with 15 points from their three games played. Leinster, who beat Worcester 38-23 on Sunday, are second with 14 points from four games, Newport are third (6 from three), Worcester fourth (5 from two), Currie fifth (1 from two), and Plymouth sixth (0 from two). The Pirates final game in Pool A is away to Worcester on the 26th February.

Speaking ahead of Friday evening’s match, Cornish Pirates high performance manager Chris Stirling has said: "We were pretty happy with our performance in the cup against Plymouth Albion, but we know it’s going to be really tough at Newport. They will bring physicality to the match and can also play with width, and we’re expecting a real battle."

Cornish Pirates: R. Cook, W. Davies, D. Locke, T. Luke, R. McAtee, J. Bentley, J. Doherty, L. McGlone, T. Holmes, C. Morgan, B. Gulliver (capt), I. Nimmo, J. Currie, D. Ward, P. Andrew.

Replacements: R. Storer, T. Cowan-Dickie, R. Brits, M. Myerscough, K. Marriott, S. Winn, G. Pointer.

Northampton Saints: B Foden, C Ashton, J Clarke, J Downey, B Reihana, S Geraghty, L Dickson, S Tongauiha, D Hartley [capt], B Mujati, C Lawes, C Day, P Dowson, T Wood, R Wilson.
Replacements: B Sharman, R Dreyer, E Murray, C Clark, M Easter, R Powell, S Myler, J Ansbro
Castres Olympique: P Bernard, R Martial, P Garcia, R Cabannes, V Inigo, C McIntyre, S Tillous-Borde, Y Forestier, M Bonello, D Saayman, S Murray, J Tekori, I Diarra, Y Caballero, C Masoe [capt].
Replacements: B Kayser, M Coetzee, A Peikrishvili, M Rolland, J Bornman, T Sanchou, S Bai, M Andreu

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)

POOL 4 – Ulster Rugby V Aironi Rugby (19.30)
Ulster Rugby: J Smith, A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, S Danielli, I Humphreys, R Pienaar, B Young, R Best [capt], T Court, J Muller, T Barker, P Wannenburg, C Henry, R Diack.
Replacements: N Brady, P McAllister, A Whitten, D Tuohy, W Faloon, P Marshall, I Whitten, D McIlwaine
Aironi Rugby: D Demas, G Toniolatti , R Penney, G Pavan, G Venditti, L Mercier, T Tebaldi, A de Marchi, R Santamaria, L Redolfini, C del Fava [capt], M Bortolami, A Benatti, A Birchall, N Williams.
Replacements: L Ferraro, A de Marchi, S Perugini, V Liebenberg, N Cattina, P Canavosio, G Pizarro, R Bocchino
Referee: Chris White (England)

POOL 6 – Glasgow Warriors V Newport Gwent Dragons (19.30)

Glasgow Warriors: B Stortoni, D van der Merwe, M Evans, G Morrison, F Aramburu, R Jackson, C Gregor, J Welsh, F Thomson, M Low, T Ryder, R Gray, R Harley, J Barclay [capt], R Vernon.
Replacements: D Hall, R Grant, E Kalman, A Muldowney, C Forrester, H Pyrgos, D Weir, R Dewey
Newport Gwent Dragons: W Harries, A Hughes, T Cheeseman, A Smith, A Brew, M Jones, W Evans [capt], P Price, S Jones, B Castle, S Morgan, R Sidoli, D Lydiate, R Sowden-Taylor, A Coombs.
Replacements: L Burns, H Gustafson, N Hall, A Jones, L Evans, J Leadbeater, T Riley, M Evans
Referee: Jeromé Garces (France)

Fussell commented: ”I’m excited about the prospect of moving to the Ospreys. I’ve made the decision purely on the basis of where I feel I can develop my game best over the next couple of years. I’ve spoken to people about the set-up at the Ospreys and it’s all been very positive. They have excellent facilities and a track record in developing players so I see it as a real opportunity for me to kick on another level in my game. If you look at the number of players that the Ospreys bring through for Wales, then it is clear that they are doing something right and I’m looking forward to being a part of it.

“There are some great coaches at the Ospreys, they have exciting plans for the region and I’m looking forward to working with them. It’s going to be a real challenge for me personally to go into that environment and try and make an impact. I realise that they have real strength in the wing position; In Shane Williams and Tommy Bowe I’d say that they’ve probably got two of the best wingers in the world, and there is also Nikki Walker and some really talented youngsters coming through, so being around players of that quality and working with them day in, day out, and testing myself in training against them can only be a positive thing for me personally. Hopefully, it will allow me to improve my own game to the level where maybe I can get closer to international rugby.

“Clearly, while I’m looking forward to joining up with the Ospreys, there’s a lot of rugby to be played between now and the end of the season. I’ve been at the Dragons for five years, I’ve really enjoyed my time with them and as a professional rugby player my focus between now and then will be 100 per cent on the Dragons and doing my best for them, which is as it should be.”

“It’s a tail of two tables,” he said. “In the Magners League we’re at the top but in the Heineken Cup we’re at the bottom.

“We need to play like a team that’s at the top of the Magners League to do our current position justice.”

The Warriors lost their two opening games of the European competition away to Newport-Gwent Dragons and at home to Biarritz.

Now following a hard-fought win over Ulster in Belfast, Lineen wants his charges to get back to winning ways in Europe.

He continued: “We’re still disappointed with what happened with the Biarritz game so we need to make sure we’re back on form at Firhill to show the supporters what we’ve got as a professional sports team.

“Last weekend, I was particularly impressed with the way in which the players performed in such a hostile environment, especially our younger forwards like Jon Welsh, Richie Gray and Richie Vernon.”

The Warriors have made five changes, two positional, to the side that defeated Ulster last Friday.

Scotland captain Chris Cusiter returns to the number nine jersey and Peter Murchie takes over on the wing from National Academy youngster Alex Dunbar. In the pack, Dan Turner comes in for Tim Barker.

As a result of the changes, Thom Evans moves to the right wing and Richie Gray moves to the left hand side of the scrum.

Glasgow Warriors team to play Gloucester in the Heineken Cup at Firhill on Friday 11 December (kick-off 7:30pm)

• 15 Bernardo Stortoni
• 14 Thom Evans
• 13 Max Evans
• 12 Graeme Morrison
• 11 Peter Murchie
• 10 Dan Parks
• 9 Chris Cusiter
• 1 Jon Welsh
• 2 Dougie Hall
• 3 Moray Low
• 4 Richie Gray
• 5 Dan Turner
• 6 Kelly Brown
• 7 John Barclay CAPTAIN
• 8 Richie Vernon

Substitutes

• 16 Fergus Thomson
• 17 Ed Kalman
• 18 Kevin Tkachuk
• 19 Tim Barker
• 20 Calum Forrester
• 21 Mark McMillan
• 22 Colin Gregor
• 23 DTH van der Merwe

Tickets to Friday night’s game against Gloucester – priced at £15 for adults in advance with a new AnyGame voucher (£20 on match days), £10 for students and senior citizens and just £5 for under 18s – can be purchased now by calling the Ticket Hotline on 0844 800 3490, by logging onto www.glasgowwarriors.org or by visiting Greaves Sports (located on Gordon Street and Sauchiehall Street).

Ryan Jones out of Australia match

Ryan Jones has withdrawn from the Wales side to take on Australia in the Invesco Perpetual Series climax at the Millennium Stadium tomorrow (kick-off 5.15pm).

Gethin Jenkins will captain the team and Jones is replaced at No8 by Andy Powell, who moves across the back row, with Dragons flanker Dan Lydiate promoted from the bench to the blindside to win his second cap.

Lydiate’s place as a replacement is taken up by Sam Warburton, who faces the prospect of tackling the Wallabies for the second time in a week after representing the Cardiff Blues against their midweek touring side on Tuesday.

“Ryan pulled up in Tuesday’s conditioning session with a back problem,” said Wales physio Mark Davies.

“This obviously needed time to settle and unfortunately the problem has not resolved in time for him to be available on Saturday.

“He has been receiving treatment and was unable to train yesterday, but today we have taken the decision that he is simply not going to be ready to take the field.”

• 19 Sam WARBURTON (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,070)

DoB: 05.10.88. 1.88m / 6’2″. 15st 9lbs / 99kgs

International record: 2 caps (W 2)

• 6 Dan LYDIATE (NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS – Cap No 1,071)

DoB: 18.12.87. 1.93m / 6’4″. 15st 13lbs / 101kgs

International record: 1 cap (W 1)

• 8 Andy POWELL (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,061)

DoB: 23.08.81. 6’4″ / 1.94m. 17st 6lbs / 111kgs

International record: 11 caps (W 7, L 4)

• 1 Gethin JENKINS (CARDIFF BLUES, CAPTAIN – Cap No 1,006)

DoB: 17.11.80. 6’2″ / 1.88m. 18st 13lbs / 120kgs

International record: 71 caps (W 31, L 38, D 2; 15 pts – 3T)