Jackman returns for Leinster
Gordon D’Arcy continues his centre partnership with Fergus McFadden, with Shane Horgan joining the back three alongside Isa Nacewa and Girvan Dempsey.
In the pack, skipper Shane Jennings and Cameron Jowitt — both try scorers in Llanelli — again start in the back-row alongside Rocky Elsom. Chris Whitaker and Sean O’Brien have recovered from injury to take their places amongst the replacements.
“The victory in Llanelli was a very important result,” said Jennings. “It showed that with Munster also winning, you have to keep the pressure on the teams around you. It was great to see a number of the younger players step up to the mark and what they may have lacked in experience, they more than made up for in enthusiasm.
“It is vital that the squad remains competitive and that we’re constantly challenging each other. Training has been extremely sharp since the Llanelli win. There were some good individual displays but we know that we have to improve our discipline.”
His teammate, prop Cian Healy added: “The Llanelli result was a massive one but we moved on and have worked really hard over the last fortnight with this game in mind.
“Whenever you play away from home it’s important that you stand up and, certainly, the Ospreys are a team that we have great respect for. They’re very attack-minded and the game is sure to be very physical, and they will no doubt expect the same from us. The Liberty Stadium is a fantastic arena. They will obviously look to make home advantage count, but all of our players have our heads screwed on.”
LEINSTER: G Dempsey, S Horgan, F McFadden, G D’Arcy, I Nacewa, F Contepomi, P O’Donohoe; C Healy, B Jackman, S Wright, T Hogan, M O’Kelly, C Jowitt, S Jennings (captain), R Elsom.
Replacements: B Blaney, S Knoop, D Toner, S O’Brien, C Whitaker, J SextonS Keogh.
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (IRFU).
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