Leinster bid to maintain momentum

LEINSTER coach Michael Cheika has resisted the urge to wrap his key players in cotton wool ahead of the Heineken Cup final. For now anyway.

Avoiding injuries and suspensions will be priority number one for the Australian between now and May 23 but he has nevertheless named an impressive starting XV for the Magners League tie against the Scarlets at the RDS tonight (7.45).

Felipe Contepomi’s cruciate knee injury sees Jonathan Sexton continue at out-half, where he performed so admirably as a replacement at Croke Park, while Sean O’Brien replaces Rocky Elsom, who picked up a less serious injury last Saturday.

The rest of the side is unchanged for the visit of the Welsh side but expect Cheika to make ample use of his bench before making wholesale changes for the final League game away to the Dragons tomorrow week.

That is a luxury the Leicester Tigers cannot afford given their Premiership play-off duties this weekend against Bath but Cheika is mindful too of the dangers of taking the collective foot off the pedal prior to Murrayfield.

“We know if we want to perform in the final we can’t just turn it on in the week before. If you think back, we’re only two games on from the way we played Edinburgh, which was poor, especially defensively, and only a game and a half away from a poor first-half against Glasgow.

“So we’re not kidding ourselves. We know there are going to be some troughs during the three-week period and we’ll have little things to work on internally to keep ourselves focused on improvement.

“From looking at the players since they’ve come back in, that’s very much the case. There’s definitely not been a lot of back-slapping or anything like that, it’s been all down to business and getting ready for (tonight) and that’s a good sign.

“You’d be naïve if you didn’t recognise that was something we’ve got be careful of, but I think from what I’ve seen so far I’d be pretty positive about the attitude of the fellas coming back in.”

One of the areas Cheika is sure to concentrate on in the coming weeks is the line-out which proved to be the one disappointing aspect to their performance against Munster the last day.

Bernard Jackman shipped the majority of the blame for that in the days that followed but the Clontarf hooker’s understudy, John Fogarty, showed solidarity while accepting that players must keep up the pressure for places.

“There are eight guys in a line-out. It’s a unit so I wouldn’t single out Bernard if it doesn’t go very well,” said the Tipperary man.

“But certainly there are two games now when the likes of me might get an opportunity to show Cheiks what I can do, hopefully make him make a decision again. That’s what we (the second string) players have been trying to do all season. So the opportunity will hopefully come our way. ”

Though neither side has anything concrete to play for, there will be five British and Irish Lions on view, with the Scarlets starting hooker Matthew Rees and out-half Stephen Jones.

Jones has hailed the stunning form of Lions team-mate Brian O’Driscoll ahead of his club’s crunch week to secure Heineken Cup qualification. The Scarlets lie one point above Welsh rivals Newport Gwent Dragons in the Magners League table. And fly-half Jones faces Leinster and O’Driscoll tonight desperate to secure a place in Europe’s premier competition next year.

Jones, 31, said: “We’re in a three-way battle with the Blues and the Dragons to secure our Heineken Cup qualification and every game is vital. We’ve got three big games in a week against Leinster, Cardiff Blues and then Ulster at home – it’s a massive week for us.

“And it will be tough for us to pick up a result in Ireland because Brian O’Driscoll has been brilliant this season. From a Lions point of view, that is brilliant. His form has been fantastic and you only had to look at Ireland’s Six Nations game against England to see what an influence he is.

“He was brilliant not only for the try that day but I must admit the drop goal was great.”

Jones has dismissed reports linking him with a move to Welsh rivals Cardiff Blues.

“I’ve got a contract for next season and I’m committed to the Scarlets,” said Jones.