Both sides have gone strong for tonight’s top of the table clash at the RDS.
TONIGHT’S TOP OF the table URC clash in Dublin already had the makings of a tasty encounter, but yesterday’s team announcements has only heightened the sense that we could be in for a cracker when Leinster welcome the Bulls to the RDS .
Europe is still the star prize in Leinster’s eyes but their desire to taste league success again has grown over recent seasons. Last year it was Munster who dumped the province out in the URC semi-finals but a year previously it was tonight’s opponents who came to Dublin and caused a memorable upset, Jake White’s men outmuscling their hosts to end their season on a pulsating night at the RDS.
Advertisement Jordan Larmour starts a game at fullback for just the third time this season, but crucially, those games have come back-to-back , and the 26-year-old should be full of confidence after being drafted in on late notice to play in Ireland’s Six Nations-title sealing game. In the pack, Joe McCarthy will be determined to kick on from his own Six Nations experience while an all-international backrow of Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier and Jack Conan will be confident of getting on top of their hosts in what should be a fascinating physical battle.
Tadhg Furlong can ensure Leinster’s scrum stays solid, the in-form Jamison Gibson-Park can lift the tempo if needed and Caelan Doris will surely relish the opportunity to do as much damage as possible in a shorter window than usual, with the back-rower starting a Leinster game on the bench for the first time since December 2022.
LEINSTER: Jordan Larmour; Rob Russell, Robbie Henshaw, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe; Harry Byrne, Luke McGrath ; Cian Healy, Rónan Kelleher, Michael Ala’alatoa; Ross Molony, Joe McCarthy; Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
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