Leinster to edge cagey affair with Wasps

It may be a first visit to Coventry for Leinster today but, this should still all feel very familiar to most of their crew. 

Round six. Do or die. This is the kind of game the province has excelled in for so many years and there are enough of Matt O’Connor’s men with multiple Heineken cup medals in their pockets for that to count.

Wasps can point to their own win-or-bust experience last summer when they edged Stade Francais in the two-tie play-off to earn entry into the Champions Cup but this is, nevertheless, virgin territory for them as a club.

Win and they go through, though. The same counts for Leinster, who know that even a loss may be enough to squeeze them into the quarter-finals, but the margins in that scenario are way too fine to lean on it for comfort.

O’Connor has kept changes to a minimum after their stroll against Castres at the RDS last week. That means tighthead Mike Ross remains ostracised as Marty Moore — followed probably by Tadhg Furlong — look to lock down the scrum. Kane Douglas for Mike McCarthy in the second row is one of only two changes to the starting side. The other sees Dominic Ryan take over from Jack Conan in the back row.

Wasps Director of Rugby Dai Young has made just the pair of alterations. Kearnan Myall drops to the bench with an unspecified “bump” to be replaced by James Gaskell at lock, while Ben Jacobs slots in at centre for the injured Alapati Leiua (knee).

None of which changes the fact that these are two teams capable of extreme stinginess in defence and, at the same time, in possession of some class acts out back. Add in two very capable back rows and the sense of stalemate is apparent. The same holds at half-back with both sides offering two wily veterans in the pivot positions and it would be a surprise if this didn’t turn out to be a cagey affair.

Leinster’s nous to edge it.