Leinster and Leicester Tigers have named their teams for the upcoming Champions Cup clash as the quarter-final stage begins at the Aviva Stadium on Friday.
The hosts have been boosted by the return of Garry Ringrose and Caelan Doris, but have been hit by the withdrawal of Josh van der Flier due to injury.
It means that the usual blindside/number eight, Doris, shifts to openside in the absence of Van der Flier.
Hugo Keenan starts at full-back, with Jimmy O’Brien and James Lowe named on the wings.
Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw form the centre partnership for the first time since October’s win over Munster, with Ross Byrne and Jamison Gibson-Park completing the backline.
Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong make up the Leinster front-row for the second week running.
James Ryan captains the team and is partnered in the second-row by Ross Molony.
Doris comes into the back-row and is joined by Ryan Baird and Jack Conan, with Baird set to win his 50th Leinster cap.
On the bench, there are no changes from last Saturday’s win over Ulster.
Six changes for Leicester
Meanwhile, Leicester head coach Richard Wigglesworth has made six positional changes to his starting side from the Champions Cup win over Edinburgh at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, which includes four new faces in the starting line-up.
Mike Brown returns to action, at full-back, which sees Freddie Steward shift to the wing and Harry Potter move to outside centre.
Dan Kelly, who came off the bench last Friday night, starts at inside centre alongside Potter in the midfield.
Kelly’s inclusion is a direct swap with Jimmy Gopperth, who is included on the bench.
In the forward pack, there are two changes from the last outing, with Joe Heyes and Jasper Wiese coming into the starting team after featuring as replacements last week.
Heyes and Wiese come in for Dan Cole and Olly Cracknell, who are included on the bench for the trip to Dublin.
Friday night will be the 50th starting appearance for Heyes in his 121st Tigers match.
Sam Wolstenholme, who was an unused replacement against Edinburgh, will make his Leicester debut if he features against Leinster.
Prediction: Leinster by 15
The teams:
Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Jimmy O’Brien, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Caelan Doris, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 James Ryan (c), 4 Ross Molony, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Scott Penny, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Ciarán Frawley
Leicester: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Harry Potter, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Freddie Steward, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Cameron Henderson, 4 George Martin, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Julián Montoya (c), 1 James Cronin
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Tom West, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Sam Wolstenholme, 22 Charlie Atkinson, 23 Jimmy Gopperth
Date: Friday, April 7
Venue: Aviva Stadium
Kick-off: 20:00 BST (19:00 GMT)
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referees: Pierre Brousset (France), Tual Trainini (France)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
READ MORE: James Lowe insists Leinster must ‘capitalise on the luxury of home playoffs’
Article courtesy of
Source link
