Leinster have restored their big guns to the starting line-up for Friday night’s Guinness PRO14 semi-final showdown with a Munster side showing just three changes from the starting XV which hammered Connacht last weekend.
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen sent out a completely different side to face Ulster last Saturday from the XV which saw off Munster 27-25 in the PRO14 restart game seven days previously and still saw his selection hammer the northern province 28-10. Yet there are just three survivors from that win which stretched Leinster’s winning run to 21 games this season in all competitions with wing Hugo Keenan retaining the 14 jersey in the continued absence of hamstring victim Dave Kearney, Devin Toner back in at lock, while Will Connors hangs onto the openside flanker role. Connors will start in a back row also featuring Caelan Doris and Jack Conan as Cullen seeks a way to negate the turnover threats of Peter O’Mahony, Jack O’Donoghue and CJ Stander, the last of whom was in destructive form in the first meeting between the provinces on August 22. Connors’ selection comes at the expense of Josh van der Flier who must settle for a place among the replacements while O’Donoghue wins the battle for the Munster number seven jersey having returned off the bench last from a concussion and the Waterford man replaces Chris Cloete who drops to the bench.
Munster make two further changes to their forward pack with Stephen Archer rotating back into the tighthead prop role as John Ryan returns to the bench while Billy Holland replaces Fineen Wycherley at lock to form a second-row partnership with Tadhg Beirne, who returned from a nine-month absence following an ankle fracture to such good effect last week and scored a try in the 49-12 beating of Connacht.
Head coach Johann van Graan names an unchanged backline for the third weekend in succession with JJ Hanrahan starting at fly-half after finishing the regular season with the Guinness PRO14 Golden Boot for the second time in his career.
Munster’s bench sees a first appearance since the restart of full-back Mike Haley following his recovery from a calf injury as van Graan returns to a more traditional 5:3 split of replacements having picked six forwards and two backs for the Connacht game.
Leinster’s backline will be anchored by captain and fly-half Johnny Sexton in partnership with Luke McGrath, with Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose in midfield and Jordan Larmour restored at full-back at the expense of veteran Rob Kearney despite a difficult evening under the Munster high ball last time out.
The defending champions’ front row is once again missing injured tighthead Tadhg Furlong pack while Toner retains his place in an experience second row alongside a recalled Scott Fardy at the expense of rising star Ryan Baird, named among the replacements, Cullen also preferring a 5:3 bench split having gone 6:2 for the first Munster clash.
Munster boss van Graan said: “The challenge of facing Leinster at the Aviva is massive but it is a great opportunity for us on Friday night. We have prepared as well as we could and we’re looking forward to the game. We want as much continuity as possible, it’s great to be able to select the same backline three weekends in a row. We have got a quality squad and that means a lot of competition in all positions. Everybody just wants the opportunity to play and we are excited for Friday night.”
J Larmour; H Keenan, G Ringrose, R Henshaw, J Lowe; J Sexton – captain, L McGrath; C Healy, R Kelleher, A Porter, D Toner, S Fardy, C Doris, W Connors, J Conan.
S Cronin, E Byrne, M Bent, R Baird, J van der Flier, J Gibson-Park, R Byrne, R O’Loughlin.
S Daly; A Conway, C Farrell, D de Allende, K Earls; JJ Hanrahan, C Murray; J Loughman, N Scannell, S Archer; T Beirne, B Holland; P O’Mahony – captain, J O’Donoghue, CJ Stander.
K O’Byrne, J Cronin, J Ryan, F Wycherley, C Cloete, C Casey, R Scannell, M Haley.
Andrew Brace (IRFU).