If Leinster can avenge their October defeat in Montpellier, they will secure top spot in Pool 4 and book their place in the Champions Cup quarter-finals. Leo Cullen’s men open round 5 at home to the second-placed French side who are five points behind them.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS CUP – POOL 4: Friday, January 13
LEINSTER (1st) v MONTPELLIER (2nd), the RDS, 7.45pm (live Sky Sports 2 HD/beIN Sports/RTÉ 2fm/highlights TG4)
Team News: There are five changes to the Leinster team that defeated Zebre in the GUINNESS PRO12 last weekend with one in the backs and four in the pack. Captain Isa Nacewa comes in at full-back but it is as you were elsewhere in the back-line.
Adam Byrne and Rory O’Loughlin continue on the wings with Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose again forming the midfield partnership. The fit-again Jonathan Sexton has Luke McGrath alongside him at half-back.
In the front row Jack McGrath and Tadhg Furlong start this weekend with James Tracy continuing at hooker. Devin Toner and Hayden Triggs again line up in the second row behind them.
In the back row only Jack Conan is retained but he moves to blindside flanker from number 8, while Josh van der Flier, who missed out on selection last weekend through illness, slots back in at openside with Sean O’Brien sidelined by a tight calf. Finally, Jamie Heaslip, who scored a try off the bench against Zebre, returns to the number 8 jersey.
Head coach Leo Cullen said: “Sean O’Brien just has a bit of tightness in his calf this week so we didn’t take any risks with him. He should be available next week. Sean Cronin will be out for a few weeks anyway, so he won’t be back for this period.
“We’ll see exactly how long that is next week. It’s not ideal. It (Cronin’s hamstring injury) looked reasonably innocuous at the time but he’s done a bit of damage there. We’ll get a full report next week.
“Johnny (Sexton) has looked sharp in training. In the lead-in to Zebre he trained the previous couple of weeks. He’s been fully involved in the running of the team.
“It was good to get that bit of game-time under his belt last week. He’s training well again this week – he had no ill-effects from the weekend. He’s in a good place and would have got plenty of confidence from last week.”
The last few remaining Leinster v Montpellier tickets can be bought at leinsterrugby.ie/tickets as Cullen’s charges look to guarantee their qualification for the Champions Cup quarter-finals.
Former Ulster winger Timoci Nagusa and Australian international Joseph Tomane come into a back-line marshalled by two more southern Hemisphere recruits, Springbok Frans Steyn and Wallaby-capped scrum half Nic White.
Fijian giant Nemani Nadolo, who touched down twice against Leinster in October, is an obvious danger man wide on the left, while Georgian prop Mikheil Nariashvili and lock Konstantine Mikautadze are the two additions to a powerful pack that again features the all-international back row of Fulgence Ouedraogo, captain Akapusi Qera and Pierre Spies.
Ex-Munster scrum half and 2009 Grand Slam winner Tomas O’Leary will be eager to make an impact off the bench at the RDS where he helped his native province to an 18-0 victory over Leinster back in September 2008.
LEINSTER: Isa Nacewa (capt); Adam Byrne, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Rory O’Loughlin; Jonathan Sexton, Luke McGrath; Jack McGrath, James Tracy, Tadhg Furlong, Devin Toner, Hayden Triggs, Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: Richardt Strauss, Cian Healy, Michael Bent, Ross Molony, Dan Leavy, Jamison Gibson Park, Ross Byrne, Rob Kearney.
MONTPELLIER: Joffrey Michel; Timoci Nagusa, Vincent Martin, Joseph Tomane, Nemani Nadolo; Frans Steyn, Nic White; Mikheil Nariashvili, Shalva Mamukashvili, Jannie du Plessis, Paul Willemse, Konstantine Mikautadze, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Akapusi Qera (capt), Pierre Spies.
Replacements: Charles Geli, Yvan Watremez, Davit Kubriashvili, Antoine Battut, Kelian Galletier, Tomas O’Leary, Henry Immelman, Jesse Mogg.
Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Assistant Referees: Wayne Barnes, Simon McConnell (both England)
Television Match Official: Stuart Terheege (England)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Leinster to win: 1/6; Draw: 22/1; Montpellier to win: 4/1
Pre-Match Quotes: Leo Cullen (Leinster) – “They’re a team coached by Jake White, so there’s definitely a certain style to the way they want to play the game – very, very big forward pack, confrontational, very good maul, will go very hard at the ruck, and have a very strong kicking game with Nic White in there.
“They’ve a lot of threats across the board. They’ve assembled a very strong squad. They’re pretty well-resourced and backed as a club. They certainly run a very different model to ourselves.
“It’s a struggle to find the French players in there. I know I’ve a Fijian (Isa Nacewa) sitting beside me here, but we’ve a very, very different model here. It’s definitely a clash of styles, Leinster against Montpellier.
“We’ve a lot of respect for them. We found the going tough when we played in France (in round 2 back in October). I thought the guys battled back well. Obviously it was 22-6 and we’d Rob Kearney in the bin as well. At that stage it wasn’t looking fantastic for us, but I thought we finished out the game well (to gain a losing bonus point).
“We’ve been asking a lot of questions about why we got ourselves in that situation. Montpellier are a dangerous team and they put us under a lot of pressure at various stages. We need to make sure we handle some of those threats a lot better.”
Robbie Henshaw (Leinster) – “We know we’re going to have our work cut out and it’s going to be a tough game. We’ll need to be 100% switched on. Montpellier are a massive side and have a lot of skill across the board.
“Their pack is probably the biggest we’ve played this year so we need to be strong in defence, razor sharp in attack and keep the ball moving around the pitch.
“It’s going to be a physical game but we need to control it. Obviously, that starts with our physicality in defence and putting in some big shots.”
Current Form – Leinster – (GUINNESS PRO12): Won 20-8 v Benetton Treviso (home), Lost 33-25 v Glasgow Warriors (away), Won 33-20 v Edinburgh (away), Won 31-19 v Ospreys (home), Won 16-13 v Cardiff Blues (away), Won 25-14 v Munster (home); (Champions Cup): Won 33-15 v Castres Olympique (home), Lost 22-16 v Montpellier (away); (GUINNESS PRO12): Won 24-13 v Connacht (home), Won 33-10 v Zebre (away), Lost 38-29 v Scarlets (away), Won 28-15 v Newport Gwent Dragons (home); (Champions Cup): Won 37-10 v Northampton Saints (away), Won 60-13 v Northampton Saints (home); (GUINNESS PRO12): Lost 29-17 v Munster (away), Won 22-7 v Ulster (home), Won 70-6 v Zebre (home)
Montpellier – (Top 14 Championship): Lost 20-12 v Toulouse (away), Lost 26-22 v Clermont Auvergne (home), Won 32-15 v Bordeaux-Bègles (away), Won 41-13 v Pau (home), Won 21-9 v Bayonne (away), Won 42-13 v Brive (home), Lost 28-6 v Toulon (away), Won 28-19 v Castres Olympique (home); (Champions Cup): Lost 16-14 v Northampton Saints (away), Won 22-16 v Leinster (home); (Top 14 Championship): Won 12-11 v La Rochelle (home), Lost 21-9 v Racing 92 (away), Won 25-20 v Lyon (home), Lost 21-17 v Stade Francais (away), Won 51-37 v Grenoble (away); (Champions Cup): Won 32-14 v Castres Olympique (home), Lost 29-23 v Castres Olympique (away); (Top 14 Championship): Won 33-29 v Toulon (home), Lost 32-27 v Pau (away), Won 31-26 v Bordeaux-Bègles (home)
Top Scorers – 2016/17 European Champions Cup: Leinster – Points: Isa Nacewa 67; Tries: Isa Nacewa 5; Montpellier – Points: Frans Steyn 30; Tries: Nemani Nadolo 3
Previous European Meetings: 3
Sunday, October 23, 2016 – Pool 4 – Montpellier 22 Leinster 16, Altrad Stadium
Saturday, January 21, 2012 – Pool 3 – Leinster 25 Montpellier 3, the RDS
Saturday, November 12, 2011 – Pool 3 – Montpellier 16 Leinster 16, Stade de la Mosson
Match Facts –
– This will be the fourth meeting between the teams with honours even so far – one win each and a draw
– Leinster have won 20 of their last 22 home games against Top 14 opposition in the competition. Toulon (2015) and Clermont Auvergne (2012) are the only French sides to have tasted success in Dublin in that time
– Montpellier have lost their last seven away games in the tournament
– If Pool 4 leaders Leinster manage to win, they will be guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals
– Isa Nacewa has scored the joint most points in the Champions Cup this season (67, level with Owen Farrell of Saracens) and has scored more tries than any other player (5)
– Leinster’s Josh van der Flier and Montpellier’s Paul Willemse have each won six turnovers this season, and Willemse has recorded his six in just 163 minutes of action
– Three-time champions Leinster are the only side with a 100% scrum success rate (26/26), while they have conceded a competition low 28 penalties to date this season
– Of the 149 players to make 20+ carries this season, Nemani Nadolo has the best average gain rate (10.2 metres per carry)
– Leinster are one of two teams (Clermont are the other) with more than one player to play every minute of the four rounds this season: Jamie Heaslip and Robbie Henshaw
– Montpellier have the lowest place-kicking success rate this season (61%)
– The last time Leinster defeated Montpellier at the RDS (round 6, 2012), they went on to win the tournament
– Jonathan Sexton needs five points to reach 500 for the tournament
European Cup Records:
Leinster –
2015/16: Failed to qualify from Pool 5
2014/15: Reached the semi-finals
2013/14: Reached the quarter-finals
2012/13: Failed to qualify from Pool 5
2011/12: Champions
2010/11: Champions
2009/10: Reached the semi-finals
2008/09: Champions
2007/08: Failed to qualify from Pool 6
2006/07: Reached the quarter-finals
2005/06: Reached the semi-finals
2004/05: Reached the quarter-finals
2003/04: Failed to qualify from Pool 3
2002/03: Reached the semi-finals
2001/02: Reached the quarter-finals
2000/01: Failed to qualify from Pool 1
1999/00: Failed to qualify from Pool 1
1998/99: Failed to qualify from Pool A
1997/98: Failed to qualify from Pool A
1996/97: Failed to qualify from Pool B
1995/96: Reached the semi-finals
Montpellier –
2014/15: Failed to qualify from Pool 4
2013/14: Failed to qualify from Pool 5
2012/13: Reached the quarter-finals
2011/12: Failed to qualify from Pool 3
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