THEY MIGHT BE facing a second-string Gloucester side at the RDS this evening (kick-off 8pm), but Leinster head coach Leo Cullen insists there will be no complacency from his charges in their Heineken Champions Cup Pool A clash against the English Premiership outfit.

Despite recording an impressive 22-17 win over Bordeaux-Bègles at Kingsholm last Saturday, Gloucester will arrive in the Ballsbridge venue with just two of the team who started that opening round game. Back-three duo Lloyd Evans and Alex Hearle are the only players to survive for a second week running as the club’s Director of Rugby George Skivington looks instead to the likes of Giorgi Kveseladze, Billy Twelvetrees and Albert Tuisue for inspiration.

Already firm favourites to prevail, the decision by Skivington to rotate his squad to such an extreme degree leaves open the possibility of a vastly one-sided affair in the Irish capital tonight. Cullen could have been in the mood for change himself, but the inclusion of 11 starters from their 42-10 demolition of Racing 92 last weekend is a signal of Leinster’s intent for this fixture.

“We’ll treat this team with full respect, focus on ourselves. We were going through the preparation this week and we were going through a fair array of players that may or may not play. The guys are very diligent in terms of doing their homework part on their opposition,” Cullen remarked at a pre-match press conference in UCD.

“Maybe we would have expected to see a few different faces there, but we’ll just deal with what’s in front of us, go out and try and get as much as we possibly can from the game. We just need to deliver a big performance and try and rack up as many points as we possibly can in the circumstances of the game. I don’t think it’s any different really.”

Given the Six Nations is less than two months away and there is also a World Cup on the horizon, there are some players on the fringes of the Ireland squad who will be using games like tonight to keep themselves in Andy Farrell’s thoughts ahead of what promised to be a hectic 2023.

Luke McGrath is one such player, having not featured on the international stage since Farrell assumed the Irish coaching reins from Joe Schmidt in the aftermath of the 2019 World Cup. He remains a key part of the Leinster furniture, however, and is one of several in the match day 23 for tonight’s game with extra motivation to perform.

“He [McGrath] missed out on some of the Ireland selections, but he has just been a very steady presence for us. It’s great to reward those guys as well. I’m excited to see how guys go.

“Again, like every week, this is a big block of games and you’ve got to be competitive. You’ve got to make changes at some stage. Is there a bit of luck in that? Again, we’ll see. We’ll play this game this weekend and we’re fully focused on that, but then we’ll come up for air.”

Even though he has now returned to full fitness, Leinster and Ireland captain Jonathan Sexton is being held in reserve for this evening’s contest. The 37-year-old fly-half had been sidelined with a calf injury that led to his late withdrawal for Ireland’s final autumn international against Australia on November 19.

That was the game that propelled Ross Byrne back into the international reckoning and the place-kick specialist has once again been handed the number 10 jersey for the visit of Gloucester. This will be Byrne’s fifth start in succession at provincial level and while he was undoubtedly frustrated to have been away from the Ireland fold for a period of more than 18 months, Cullen believes it has conversely improved his understanding of what Leinster are all about.

“Ross has been outstanding for us and hopefully he continues on in that form. He has been such an important player for us for the last number of seasons and he is getting better all the time. He is incredibly diligent as a student of the game,” Cullen added.

“Because he has spent less time in camp he has a clearer understanding again as to what coaches are looking for here between Stuart [Lancaster] and Robin [McBryde] and Andrew [Goodman] and obviously Felipe [Contepomi] before that. He has a very strong relationship with them.”

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