No O'Driscoll; Boss replaces Reddan for Ospreys clash

Isaac Boss has been brought into the Leinster team to face the Ospreys tomorrow evening (KO: 7.05pm).

Thu, 10 Apr, 2014 - 13:43

Isaac Boss has been brought into the Leinster team to face the Ospreys tomorrow evening (KO: 7.05pm).

Boss starts at nine with Eoin Reddan making way and Luke McGrath is selected as the back-up scrum half for the trip to the Liberty Stadium.

Coach Matt O'Connor has selected a strong team as they try to secure top spot, but it doesn't include Brian O'Driscoll who is among a number of players nursing bumps and bruises from the game last weekend.

Noel Reid comes in at 12, with Gordon D'Arcy moving outside the young Clontarf man to take O'Driscoll's spot.

The only serious injury was to Fergus McFadden who limped off in the first half in the Stade Felix Mayol.

His knee injury is not as bad as initially thought and the medial strain suffered is likely to keep him out for a few weeks at most. Zane Kirchner, who replaced him on Sunday, also replaces him here from the start.

There are four changes to the pack with Sean Cronin, Martin Moore, Leo Cullen and Kevin McLaughlin coming in from the start.

Cian Healy starts for the second week in a row having recovered from an ankle injury with Sean Cronin and Martin Moore beside him. Leo Cullen captains the side from the second row with Mike McCarthy locking down beside him. McLaughlin, Shane Jennings and Jamie Heaslip complete the pack.

There is plenty of experience on the bench with Mike Ross and Devin Toner among the options available while there is a welcome return from injury for Darragh Fanning and Collie O'Shea.

O'Connor said, "We were relatively lucky last week in that most of the blokes came through the game with only bumps and bruises so we are able to keep a lot of the combinations together from last week.

"That will help us in terms of our execution and we will need a better all-round performance against a quality Ospreys side."

LEINSTER:

15: Rob Kearney

14: Zane Kirchner

13: Gordon D'Arcy

12: Noel Reid

11: Dave Kearney

10: Jimmy Gopperth

9: Isaac Boss

1: Cian Healy

2: Sean Cronin

3: Martin Moore