Easterby: Cardiff no soft touch

LEINSTER manager Guy Easterby has rejected claims that tomorrow’s RaboDirect Pro12 game against Cardiff Blues has been undermined by the Wales-Australia Test match on Saturday.

Warren Gatland called 10 Cardiff players into his original squad for the Millennium Stadium fixture, which has been organised outside the recognised international window as ordained by the IRB, and eight have made the match day 23.

Among them are Welsh captain and openside flanker Sam Warburton, who had such a stunning World Cup campaign; Jamie Roberts, who was the British and Irish Lions player of the series in South Africa in 2009; and full-back Leigh Halfpenny.