Big call at 15 as Larmour replaces veteran Kearney

Jonathan Sexton’s mood was one of the talking points in a disappointing Six Nations campaign for Ireland and it’s unlikely that his humour has improved given his absence from today’s Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final between Leinster and Ulster.

The out-half has been omitted due to what Leinster head coach Leo Cullen described yesterday as some tightness to a calf muscle. A little niggle. “It’s prudent to rest him because we have some big games to come,” he explained.