Leinster loaded down to the bench
Leinster coach Leo Cullen has named 11 internationals in his starting XV with Cian Healy, Richardt Strauss, Josh van der Flier, Ian Madigan and Luke Fitzgerald all returned to his side after Six Nations duty or injury.
However, the visitors’ list of reserves is stocked with Ireland front liners including Jack McGrath, Mike Ross, Devin Toner and Jamie Heaslip – all eight of the Leinster replacements are internationals and share 367 caps between them.
By contrast Connacht have only been able to name Robbie Henshaw, the Leinster-bound Ireland centre, on their bench while Ultan Dillan, who won his first Irish cap in the Six Nations, misses out through injury.
Nathan White and Kieran Marmion, who both saw action for Ireland in the championship, start for Connacht alongside fellow internationals John Muldoon and AJ MacGinty (USA) but they boast just 29 caps between them.
Connacht, however, have surprised everyone and spent the entire campaign in the top four while they have been in first place for the last three rounds. However, the winner of this game will strengthen their chances of a home semi-final while it could also prove that Connacht can beat one of their main challengers - and rivals - when the pressure is on.
It has been an unprecedented season for Connacht who have already smashed their record of points won and games won, but this is the first of four monumental fixtures for the province.
Next weekend they travel to Ulster, also fighting to stay in the play-offs for PRO12, then they face a Challenge Cup quarter-final away to Grenoble before hosting Munster at the Sportsground.
It will be a gruelling test of their reserves. For that reason Pat Lam’s men will need to strike hard and fast at a Leinster team that shows eight changes from the side which lost narrowly to Glasgow Warriors last weekend.
If Leinster are lacking fluency in the early stages then Connacht will have to get points on the board at the first sight of vulnerability.
There is a threatening look to the home team’s back line with Tiernan O’Halloran, Niyi Adeolokun, Bundee Aki and Matt Healy all involved. Peter Robb, a Dubliner and Old Belvedere club man, makes his first start in midfield for Connacht, while MacGinty is a product of Blackrock College.
In an intriguing sub-plot Connacht have named seven starters who were either overlooked by Leinster’s youth system or deemed surplus to requirements after joining the province.
Leinster and Ireland tighthead Mike Ross starts from the bench, but is wary of what Connacht will have to offer despite the visitors superior international experience.
“I have some fairly unpleasant memories of the Sportsground and even when the weather’s nice the Connacht players are not. They always seem to go up another level when they see a blue jersey and we’ve been beaten the last couple of times we went down there,” Ross said.
“Considering my background, I wasn’t offered a contract by Munster and I always felt a little extra there when I played against Munster. There’s a few Leinster lads gone down to Connacht like John Cooney, Quinn Roux… I’m sure there’ll be fairly fired up.” They are all the type of ingredients that Connacht coach Lam believes will add to a very tasty affair. “We are expecting a pretty physical and fired up opposition. As a team who have history of winning at this stage of the season, it’s going to take a massive collective effort from us to come out on top.
“There’s certainly a huge buzz around this game tomorrow and we’re all really looking forward to it - it doesn’t get much better than playing in front of a sold-out Sportsground.” Rugby supporters have been poorly served this season with Ireland’s disappointing World Cup and Six Nations campaigns while none of the provinces escaped the pool stages of the Champions Cup. With five rounds left to play in the Guinness PRO12 we have five interprovincial derbies to look forward to and each one will be about more than pride – there will be immediate consequences for the teams and players involved.
Despite the chilly conditions expected in Galway this evening, the domestic action is starting to heat up.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
