Contepomi to hit 50-mark for title-hunting Lions
Contepomi makes his 50th appearance for a Leinster side that shows three changes from the team that last week sneaked past Border Reivers to move top of the table.
Reggie Corrigan comes back for Ronan McCormack, Rob Kearney is given a chance on the wing instead of Shane Horgan, while Cameron Jowitt returns for Niall Ronan. Unlike Declan Kidney, Leinster coach Michael Cheika had the luxury of making choices for the game after all the main contenders were declared fit.
Kidney has delayed his selection for the game with Edinburgh Gunners at Thomond Park tomorrow but will have to plan without Ronan O’Gara, Marcus Horan, Christian Cullen, Denis Leamy and Jeremy Manning.
O’Gara and Leamy look certain to be available for selection for Munster’s Heineken Cup semi-final next week against Leinster. While Cullen has a reasonable chance, having trained yesterday, there is doubt about Horan (calf strain) and Manning (head injury).
Munster have relinquished the top spot by losing their last three Celtic League games, but Kidney put it in perspective.
“We lost those games, but one of them was in February, another in March and another in April. In normal circumstances, if you only lost one game a month, it wouldn’t be too bad.”
He added: “We have a chance to get back on track this weekend, and it will be a big test of character. We had a hard time of it in the first fixture in Scotland, and Edinburgh are right up there on the leaderboard. Our focus can’t waver beyond this weekend. We have got to get the performance right, and hopefully the result will follow.”
Meanwhile, Leinster’s Argentinean Contepomi, who is the Celtic League’s top scorer with 221 points (including seven tries) is partnered by former Llanelli scrum-half Guy Easterby for the Lions’ clash with the Scarlets.
Leinster have moved yet again, this time from the RDS, to give them a flavour of what to expect when they play Munster the following week.
They hope to draw fans by offering the public a chance to win five pairs of tickets for the Heineken Cup game.
Supporters have to buy an official match programme to enter the draw.
Connacht have two injury concerns ahead of their Celtic League clash with the Newport Gwent Dragons at the Sportsground tomorrow (2.30pm).
Captain Andrew Farley (back) and centre Keith Matthews (leg) are carrying injuries ahead of the crucial encounter. As a result, Michael Bradley has delayed naming his side until today.
The Dragons hold the final Heineken Cup play-off place, two points ahead of Glasgow and seven clear of Connacht, who must finish ahead of one Welsh and one Scottish side to secure a play-off place with Italy’s third-ranked side in June. While they have a mountain to climb, four of their remaining five games are at home and they are still to play the three sides in the bottom four.
There was good news for Ulster, with Andrew Trimble agreeing a new three-year contract, which will keep him at Ravenhill until June 2009.
The 21-year-old made his Ulster competitive debut against Cardiff at the beginning of the season and has been ever present since, making his Irish international debut in November against Australia.
Ulster Rugby also announced details of their final signing for next season. Tom Court, a tighthead prop from Australia, will join Mark McCall’s side on a two-year contract.
The 24-year-old, Irish-qualified for rugby, was one of the best shot-putters in Australia and is a relative newcomer to rugby union, having begun playing whilst studying at the University of Queensland three years ago.
From there he was invited to join the Queensland Reds rugby academy, and has since played for Queensland A and NPC side Manawatu, before featuring in the Queensland Reds Super 14 squad earlier this season.
: Forwards: A Clarke, A Farley, J Fogarty, A Gallagher, D Gannon, R. Hogan, S Knoop, M Lacey, J Merrigan, J Muldoon, C Rigney, C Short, M Swift,
: C Keane, A Mailei, K Mathews, M McHugh, C McPhillips, M Mostyn, D Slemen, T Tierney, P Warwick, G Williams, D Yapp.
: G. Dempsey, R. Kearney, B. O’Driscoll, captain; G. D’Arcy, D. Hickie, F. Contepomi, G. Easterby, R. Corrigan, B. Blaney, W. Green, B. Williams, M. O’Kelly, C. Jowitt, J. Heaslip, K. Gleeson.
: E. Byrne, D. Blaney, N. Ronan, E. Miller, B. O’Riordan, J. Hepworth, K. Lewis.
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