Hardly surprising perhaps that Leinster Lions coach Gary Ella has kept faith with the side that hammered Biarritz last weekend, for Friday’s clash with Cardiff Blues at The Arms Park.
Heineken Cup
Leinster Lions -v- Cardiff Blues
Friday 12th December, 2003
Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off 7.45pm.
Gary Ella has spotlighted Rhys Williams and Jamie Robinson as the Cardiff Blues dangermen when he takes his Leinster Lions to the Arms Park on Friday night.
Ella, the new Lions coach who had his first taste of Heineken Cup success at the first attempt with a comprehensive 32-6 victory over Biarritz Olympique (bonus point and all) is wary of the two Wales stars.
This will be an interesting game against a very physical team, said the former Wallaby centre. I am sure they will come out against us with an attacking approach and that they will be aggressive in everything they do.
They have a powerful back row and a strong scrum and I am sure they will be working on getting their line-out operating more effectively than last weekend while Rhys Williams and Jamie Robinson are major threats behind the scrum.
They put us away in the Celtic League at the Arms Park and we will have to play better on Friday night than we did in that 22-3 defeat back in October.
Cardiff may feel they have been a bit unlucky so far this season because we know they are a quality side and we will be well aware of their strengths.
Against Sale they played some good, controlled rugby and they will come out against us knowing the importance of winning their home games and then picking up something on the road.
I am happy with the bonus point from our first game. We played pretty well but there are a couple of things to work on this week – our defence was not as strong as it might have been but at least that is fixable.
Leinster Lions.
15. Girvan Dempsey
14. John McWeeney
13. Brian O’Driscoll
12. Shane Horgan
11. Gordon D’Arcy
10. Christian Warner
9. Brian O’Meara
captain
2. Shane Byrne
3. Peter Coyle
4. Malcolm O’Kelly
5. Ben Gissing
6. Eric Miller
7. Keith Gleeson
8. Victor Costello
Replacements.
16. Darren Molloy
17. Gavin Hickie
18. Des Dillon
19. Shane Jennings
20. Brian O’Riordan
21. David Quinlan
22. Brendan Burke
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