Cronin to make competitive debut for Leinster

Hooker Sean Cronin will make his first competitive start for Leinster on Friday night having been named in Joe Schmidt’s starting XV to face Edinburgh in their RaboDirect PRO12 encounter at Murrayfield (7.35pm).

Leo Cullen captains the side and is one of 10 Ireland internationals in the starting line-up. The back row is unaffected by the return of world cup players as Kevin McLaughlin and Leo Auva’a retain their places alongside Dominic Ryan who captained Leinster ‘A’ to victory over Ulster Ravens last week. Cronin starts in the front alongside Heinke van der Merwe and Mike Ross.