Ken Owens will again be absent when the Scarlets go for Guinness Pro 12 title glory on Saturday night.
Owens, who was with the Lions during their training camp in Ireland this week, missed last Friday’s pulsating semi-final victory over Leinster and is continuing his recovery from an ankle injury.
The Wales hooker now sits out the final at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, with Ryan Elias in the centre of the front row and Scotland international flanker John Barclay leading the Scarlets’ victory bid against Munster.
Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac has named an unchanged team – Owens’ Lions colleagues Liam Williams, who joins Saracens this summer, and Jonathan Davies both start – as the region chase a first Pro12 crown.
And wing Steff Evans, sent off for a dangerous tackle in the Leinster clash, also features after his red card was rescinded at a disciplinary hearing earlier this week.
“We know they are a very good side,” Pivac said.
“You don’t finish top after the (regular season) stage for nothing. They have got the best defensive record in the championship, and they are a side that we have a lot of respect for.”
The Scarlets beat Munster in Limerick earlier this season and Pivac added: “We took some confidence out of that win, but it is going to be a different occasion altogether.
“We have to make sure we go out there and play our game and enjoy the occasion. The boys know that if they get it right on the day they can beat anyone, so we just have to get it right on the day.”
Munster rugby director Rassie Erasmus has retained the matchday 23 that accounted for semi-final opponents the Ospreys six days ago.
That means starts for Lions squad members Conor Murray, CJ Stander and Peter O’Mahony.
Lock Donnacha Ryan makes his final appearance for Munster before moving to France, with centre Francis Saili and replacement Jean Deysel also set for farewell outings.
The Scarlets will run out with Pivac’s war-cry ringing in their ears – “everyone remembers the day Llanelli beat the Al Blacks, but this team wants to create its own history.”
The last time the Scarlets won a trophy was 2004 and Pivac believes the time is right to end the drought.
“There is a rich history at this cub and real passion in the region – we haven’t come this far just to make up the numbers. We have put in all this hard work over the past few years and it’s now all about winning the title,” said Pivac.
The news that Steff Evans will be able to play having had his unfortunate first-half red card in the semi-final rescinded has given the underdogs a huge boost.
Acting skipper John Barclay says his team will be travelling in confident mood. If his side can cope with playing Leinster with 14 men for 43 minutes, then why should they fear the Munster challenge?
“There has been a very good feeling about the place for the last few months – everyone is buzzing with excitement. We thrived during the period when the international players were away, loved that challenge, and then got better and better when the players came back,” said Barclay.
“There was no panic or distress when we went down to 14 men at the RDS. It was more a feeling of excitement because it was a great challenge for us to step up to.
“The RDS is one of the hardest places to go and win and we did that with 14 men and we also won at Thomond Park during the Six Nations. Their crowd will give them a bit of a buzz, but they will give our boys a bit of a kick as well.
“Our first few games of the season were frustrating and there was a sense of frustration growing outside the group as well. Everyone thought we had created quite a good group of players, but nobody panicked.
“It would have been very easy to do that after playing three games and losing them all. We kept plugging away and we picked up momentum at the right time. We have ground out some ugly wins, but started to play some good rugby since the weather has dried up.”
Their attacking style blew away the champions, Connacht, in Galway, inflicted a record score on the Ospreys and earned three tries at the RDS last weekend. If Barclay and co can deliver some quality ball at the Aviva then Munster could be chasing shadows as the Scarlets chase the title.
Munster: Simon Zebo; Andrew Conway, Francis Saili, Rory Scannell, Keith Earls; Tyler Bleyendaal, Conor Murray; CJ Stander, Tommy O’Donnell, Peter O’Mahony (captain), Billy Holland, Donnacha Ryan, John Ryan, Niall Scannell, Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: Rhys Marshall, Brian Scott, Stephen Archer, Jean Deysel, Jack O’Donoghue, Duncan Williams, Ian Keatley, Jaco Taute
Scarlets: Johnny McNicholl; Liam Williams, Jonathan Davies, Scott Williams, Steffan Evans; Rhys Patchell, Gareth Davies; John Barclay (captain), James Davies, Aaron Shingler, Tadhg Beirne, Lewis Rawlins, Samson Lee, Ryan Elias, Rob Evans
Replacements: Emyr Phillips, Wyn Jones, Werner Kruger, David Bulbring, Will Boyde, Jonathan Evans, Hadleigh Parkes, DTH Van der Merwe
Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)
Assistant Referees: David Wilkinson (IRFU) & Ian Davies (WRU)
TMO: Neil Paterson (SRU)