Five Internationals Return For Leinster

Leo Cullen leads a Leinster team which includes 13 Ireland internationals for the visit of their arch rivals Munster to the home of Irish rugby.

Gordon D’Arcy is one of five players in total – including the back row trio of Jamie Heaslip, Shane Jennings and Sean O’Brien as well as prop Cian Healy – who will be making their seasonal debuts for Leinster after their involvement in the Rugby World Cup.

Isaac Boss again partners Jonathan Sexton at half-back, with D’Arcy linking up with Fergus McFadden at centre and Isa Nacewa returning to the right wing after being rested last week.

Up front, Healy joins Richardt Strauss and Mike Ross in the front row with skipper Cullen starting in the second row alongside Devin Toner.

Brian O’Driscoll, after further testing, has been given an extra week to recover from the ‘stinger’ he suffered during the World Cup.

The likes of Sean Cronin, Kevin McLaughlin, Eoin Reddan and Rhys Ruddock have been included on the replacements bench for the game which is already set to be played in front of over 46,000 supporters and counting, making it the third largest attendance in league history.

The current record attendance stands at 50,645 which was set for Leinster’s clash with Munster at the Aviva Stadium in October 2010.

The previous record crowd of 48,000 attended ‘The Last Stand’ – Leinster v Ulster – at Lansdowne Road on New Year’s Eve in 2006.

Tickets for Friday’s interprovincial derby between Leinster and Munster are still available to purchase online here, and you can also buy them from the Leinster Rugby Store (Donnybrook), Spar (Donnybrook) as well as Ticketmaster outlets nationwide.

* Please note that due to essential ongoing maintenance work at Lansdowne Road DART station, the station will not be in use for supporters on Friday.

Supporters are asked to alight from either Grand Canal Dock (those travelling from the north of the city) or Sydney Parade (those travelling from the south of the city) stations. The DART will not operate between Grand Canal Dock – Sydney Parade – Grand Canal Dock.

LEINSTER (v Munster): Rob Kearney; Isa Nacewa, Fergus McFadden, Gordon D’Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald; Jonathan Sexton, Isaac Boss; Cian Healy, Richardt Strauss, Mike Ross, Leo Cullen (capt), Devin Toner, Sean O’Brien, Shane Jennings, Jamie Heaslip.

Replacements: Sean Cronin, Heinke van der Merwe, Jamie Hagan, Kevin McLaughlin, Rhys Ruddock, Eoin Reddan, Ian Madigan, Eoin O’Malley.