LEINSTER HAVE NAMED Harry Byrne to start at out-half in the province’s final Champions Cup pool game away to Bayonne on Saturday (3:15pm, Premier Sports).
Jack Boyle, Rónan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong, RG Snyman, Max Deegan, Garry Ringrose and Jimmy O’Brien also come into the side, with Leo Cullen making eight changes to his side that defeated La Rochelle at the Aviva Stadium last weekend.
Ringrose will make his first appearance since Leinster’s opening-weekend victory over Harlequins, while fullback O’Brien will return for his first outing in over a month.
James Ryan will make his 50th Champions Cup appearance for Leinster at Stade Jean-Dauger.
Leinster will be seeking maximum points against Bayonne, who are already eliminated from the Champions Cup and have, to some degree, prioritised next weekend’s Top 14 meeting with Castres, who sit a point below Grégory Patat’s side in 10th in the table.
Bayonne have named a largely second-string pack but frontliners Joris Segonds, Manu Tuilagi, Tom Spring and Cheikh Tiberghien are among those included in a strong-looking backline.
Depending on the results in games between Glasgow and Saracens, and Bristol Bears and Bordeaux, Leinster may need a victory with a try-scoring bonus point to earn a top-two seeding heading into the knockouts. This would assure them home advantage as far as the semi-final stage were they to make it.
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Bayonne
15. Cheikh Tiberghien
14. Tom Spring
13. Sireli Maqala
12. Manu Tuilagi
11. Yohan Orabe
10. Joris Segonds
9. Herschel Jantjies
1. Ignacio Calles
2. Lucas Martin
3. Junior Tagi
4. Ewan Johnson
5. Lucas Paulos
6. Alexandre Fischer
7. Arthur Iturria (Captain)
8. Nika Lomidze
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Harry Byrne gets the nod as Leinster make eight changes to face Bayonne
LEINSTER HAVE NAMED Harry Byrne to start at out-half in the province’s final Champions Cup pool game away to Bayonne on Saturday (3:15pm, Premier Sports).
Jack Boyle, Rónan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong, RG Snyman, Max Deegan, Garry Ringrose and Jimmy O’Brien also come into the side, with Leo Cullen making eight changes to his side that defeated La Rochelle at the Aviva Stadium last weekend.
Ringrose will make his first appearance since Leinster’s opening-weekend victory over Harlequins, while fullback O’Brien will return for his first outing in over a month.
James Ryan will make his 50th Champions Cup appearance for Leinster at Stade Jean-Dauger.
Leinster will be seeking maximum points against Bayonne, who are already eliminated from the Champions Cup and have, to some degree, prioritised next weekend’s Top 14 meeting with Castres, who sit a point below Grégory Patat’s side in 10th in the table.
Bayonne have named a largely second-string pack but frontliners Joris Segonds, Manu Tuilagi, Tom Spring and Cheikh Tiberghien are among those included in a strong-looking backline.
Depending on the results in games between Glasgow and Saracens, and Bristol Bears and Bordeaux, Leinster may need a victory with a try-scoring bonus point to earn a top-two seeding heading into the knockouts. This would assure them home advantage as far as the semi-final stage were they to make it.
Bayonne
15. Cheikh Tiberghien
14. Tom Spring
13. Sireli Maqala
12. Manu Tuilagi
11. Yohan Orabe
10. Joris Segonds
9. Herschel Jantjies
1. Ignacio Calles
2. Lucas Martin
3. Junior Tagi
4. Ewan Johnson
5. Lucas Paulos
6. Alexandre Fischer
7. Arthur Iturria (Captain)
8. Nika Lomidze
Replacements:
16. Facundo Bosch
17. Emosi Tumania
18. Emerick Setiano
19. Alvaro Garcia Iandolino
20. Baptiste Heguy
21. Manex Ariceta
22. Guillaume Martocq
23. Victor Hannoun
Leinster
15. Jimmy O’Brien
14. Tommy O’Brien
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Robbie Henshaw
11. Joshua Kenny
10. Harry Byrne
9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Jack Boyle
2. Rónan Kelleher
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. RG Snyman
5. James Ryan
6. Max Deegan
7. Josh van der Flier
8. Caelan Doris
Replacements:
16. Dan Sheehan
17. Jerry Cahir
18. Thomas Clarkson
19. Joe McCarthy
20. Scott Penny
21. Luke McGrath
22. Sam Prendergast
23. Rieko Ioane
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
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Champions Cup Rugby