LEINSTER HEAD COACH Leo Cullen has welcomed back a number of his Ireland internationals and named a strong team for Friday’s Guinness Pro14 trip to play Connacht [KO 7.35pm, TG4, Eir Sport 2 & Premier Sports 2].
While Cullen has held back some of his internationals – with Johnny Sexton and Tadhg Furlong among the absentees – there are first starts of the season for Robbie Henshaw, Luke McGrath, Cian Healy and Andrew Porter, while Rhys Ruddock and Rob Kearney both start on the bench.
Hugo Keenan returns to the starting team at fullback having recovered from an ankle injury, with Adam Byrne named on the right wing and James Lowe continuing on the opposite flank.
It’s an all new midfield with Joe Tomane lining up alongside Henshaw, while McGrath and Ross Byrne are named at scrum-half and out-half respectively.
Healy and Porter are named in a powerful front row alongside Rónan Kelleher, with Devin Toner and captain Scott Fardy in the second row.
Josh Murphy, Will Connors and Max Deegan line out in the back row.
Leinster head into the first inter-provincial derby of the season top of Conference A having won all five of their outings to date, while Connacht are second in Conference B having won all of their games since an opening weekend defeat to Scarlets.
Leinster:
15. Hugo Keenan
14. Adam Byrne
13. Robbie Henshaw
12. Joe Tomane
11. James Lowe
10. Ross Byrne
9. Luke McGrath
1. Cian Healy
2. Rónan Kelleher
3. Andrew Porter
4. Devin Toner
5. Scott Fardy (captain)
6. Josh Murphy
7. Will Connors
8. Max Deegan
Replacements:
16. James Tracy
17. Ed Byrne
18. Michael Bent
19. Ross Molony
20. Rhys Ruddock
21. Jamison Gibson-Park
22. Ciarán Frawley
23. Rob Kearney
Connacht:
15. Darragh Leader
14. Niyi Adeolokun
13. Tom Farrell
12. Peter Robb
11. Stephen Fitzgerald
10. Jack Carty
9. Caolin Blade
1. Denis Buckley
2. Tom McCartney
3. Finlay Bealham
4. Cillian Gallagher
5. Joe Maksymiw
6. Eoghan Masterson
7. Jarrad Butler (captain)
8. Paul Boyle
Replacements:
16. Dave Heffernan
17. Matthew Burke
18. Dominic Robertson-McCoy
19. Sean O’Brien
20. Colby Fainga’a
21. Kieran Marmion
22. Bundee Aki
23. Kyle Godwin
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