Leinster At Full Strength For Toulouse Tilt

Apart from long term injury victim Christian Warner, Leinster are at full strength for Saturday’s Heineken Cup quarter-final with Toulouse. Michael Cheika has named a 25-man squad.

…Leinster captain Brian O’Driscoll pours himself a glass of water ahead of today’s press conference at the RDS. O’Driscoll has welcomed the province’s sizeable travelling support – over 5,000 blue-clad fans are expected to make their way to the Stadium Municpial this weekend. The 27-year-old centre said: “The fact that 5,000 people are heading over to Toulouse is hugely encouraging for us. Hopefully, they’ll be pretty vocal and spur us on. They did a great job for us in Bath and hopefully we’ll be able to give them another day to remember on Saturday.”…

Apart from long term injury victim Christian Warner, Leinster are at full strength for Saturday’s Heineken Cup quarter-final with Toulouse. Michael Cheika has named a 25-man squad.

Leinster coach Cheika will confirm his starting XV and replacements on Friday. At today’s press conference, he welcomed the fierce competition for places within the side, saying: “I like the fact that there’s strong competition in the squad. I’ve practically been bullied by the form of guys like Niall Ronan to get onto the team.

“All the players here buy into the team ethic. We have scenarios prepared for back-up options for if there was an injury to Felipe (Contepomi), but I don’t dwell on possible injuries.

“Whatever happens, quality players will come to the fore in whatever position.”

…Viewed from every angle – Brian O’Driscoll and Michael Cheika at today’s press conference…

LEINSTER SQUAD (v Toulouse):

Backs (11) – Guy Easterby, Brian O’Riordan, Brian O’Meara, Felipe Contepomi, Girvan Dempsey, Brian O’Driscoll (capt), Kieran Lewis, Shane Horgan, Denis Hickie, Gordon D’Arcy, Rob Kearney.

Forwards (14) – Will Green, Reggie Corrigan, Ronan McCormack, Emmett Byrne, David Blaney, Brian Blaney, Bernard Jackman, Malcolm O’Kelly, Bryce Williams, Cameron Jowitt, Niall Ronan, Keith Gleeson, Jamie Heaslip, Eric Miller.