Only one win in their last six visits to Wales is a statistic Leinster are determined to improve when they visit a Cardiff Blues side bolstered by a number of returning internationals.
GUINNESS PRO12: Saturday, February 20
CARDIFF BLUES (9th) v LEINSTER (3rd), BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park, 3pm (live Sky Sports 1 HD)
Team News: Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has named his team to face Cardiff Blues in the GUINNESS PRO12 at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday.
There are eight changes to the side that accounted for Zebre last Friday with three in the backs and five in the pack, including a return for some Ireland internationals from Six Nations duty and a debut for one of last summer’s signings.
Zane Kirchner continues at full-back with Fergus McFadden coming into the starting line-up having played for Ireland against France last weekend. Isa Nacewa captains the province from the left wing, while Ben Te’o and Garry Ringrose continue their centre partnership.
There is a new half-back pairing with Eoin Reddan and Ian Madigan starting together. It will be Madigan’s 140th appearance for the province, with 788 points to his name to date.
Cian Healy is the only player retained in the front row with fellow internationals Sean Cronin and Tadhg Furlong starting alongside him this week.
There is one significant change to the second row with Clontarf native Mick Kearney making his debut for Leinster having signed last summer. Unfortunately, a toe injury kept him out of action until the start of the season but a relapse in his first game back with Clontarf resulted in a further lengthy spell on the sidelines. The lock, who has 68 Connacht caps to his name already, will be partnered by Hayden Triggs.
Rhys Ruddock slots in at blindside flanker, with Jordi Murphy moving from the number 8 shirt onto the openside. That means a welcome return from injury for Jack Conan who has been out with an ankle injury for over three months. He last played against Wasps in the Champions Cup in November.
Meanwhile, Cardiff Blues are able to recall four Wales internationals to the starting line-up for the big PRO12 clash with Leinster.
Seven players were released back to the region for the round 15 tie as Blues head coach Danny Wilson makes four changes to the side that played against Benetton Treviso last weekend.
A new-look half back pairing will see Gareth Anscombe and Lloyd Williams join forces, with the scrum half taking the captaincy. Winger Alex Cuthbert will start the match, while back rower Josh Turnbull is also recalled to the side.
Leading try scorer Tom James is named among the replacements and there is also a call-up for experienced hooker Matthew Rees to the bench.
CARDIFF BLUES: Rhys Patchell; Alex Cuthbert, Cory Allen, Rey Lee-Lo, Blaine Scully; Gareth Anscombe, Lloyd Williams (capt); Thomas Davies, Kristian Dacey, Salesi Ma’afu, Jarrad Hoeata, James Down, Josh Turnbull, Ellis Jenkins, Manoa Vosawai.
Replacements: Matthew Rees, Bradley Thyer, Taufa’ao Filise, Macauley Cook, Josh Navidi, Tomos Williams, Tom James, Dan Fish.
LEINSTER: Zane Kirchner; Fergus McFadden, Garry Ringrose, Ben Te’o, Isa Nacewa (capt); Ian Madigan, Eoin Reddan; Cian Healy, Sean Cronin, Tadhg Furlong, Mick Kearney, Hayden Triggs, Rhys Ruddock, Jordi Murphy, Jack Conan.
Replacements: Richardt Strauss, Peter Dooley, Mike Ross, Tom Denton, Dan Leavy, Nick McCarthy, Noel Reid, Adam Byrne.
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Sean Brickell, Simon Rees (both Wales)
Television Match Official: Gareth Simmonds (Wales)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Cardiff Blues to win: 7/4; Draw: 14/1; Leinster to win: 1/2
Pre-Match Quotes: Leo Cullen (Leinster) – “The home teams generally perform pretty well (in the 4G pitch). It is a slight advantage. The familiarity with playing on it, a lot of our guys playing B&I Cup would have played on the Donnybrook pitch.
“A lot of our players are reasonably comfortable playing there, especially the younger guys more so. Guys who are coming through schools now are going to get pretty comfortable playing on it in the future.
“But yeah, Cardiff, they adapted little slight tweaks to the way they play their game. You know, they try to play with good tempo, even in their own half because it can be a little bit easier to hold onto possession for long phases.
“It’s hard to win the ball back because the way the tackle unfolds slightly differently. From momentum, whether that’s a scrum or a maul, it can be very hard to stop once that team gets going forward.
“You see with Saracens particularly, I know they got beaten heavily last weekend, but they generally have performed very well in those two areas, scrum and maul. Once they start going forward it can be very hard to stop.”
Danny Wilson (Cardiff Blues) – “Every time you play Leinster, home or away, it is a tough fixture against a quality outfit. We enjoy the (4G) surface at home but it’s also important we don’t concede as many tries as we have at home.
“It’s a fast surface which makes it hard to defend and with Leinster here it should be an entertaining and open fixture. Our confidence on our home pitch is high – it’s a surface where we have adapted our game and style to suit it. But we’re playing against one of the best running teams out there so we know the challenge ahead.
“We want to keep the Arms Park as a real fortress and keep winning here. Hopefully we can use home advantage and our home crowd to get over the line.”
Top Scorers – 2015/16 GUINNESS PRO12: Cardiff Blues – Points: Rhys Patchell 125; Tries: Tom James, Josh Turnbull 4 each; Leinster – Points: Isa Nacewa 60; Tries: Isa Nacewa 6
RECENT LEAGUE MEETINGS:
Friday, February 8, 2013 – Cardiff Blues 11 Leinster 26, Cardiff Arms Park
Friday, September 27, 2013 – Leinster 34 Cardiff Blues 20, the RDS
Thursday, February 20, 2014 – Cardiff Blues 22 Leinster 34, Cardiff Arms Park
Friday, September 26, 2014 – Leinster 37 Cardiff Blues 23, the RDS
Saturday, January 10, 2015 – Cardiff Blues 13 Leinster 22, BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park
Saturday, September 12, 2015 – Leinster 23 Cardiff Blues 15, the RDS
MATCH FACTS:
– Cardiff Blues’ four-match winning run in the GUINNESS PRO12 came to an end on their visit to Treviso last Saturday
– The Blues have won their last five matches at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park in all competitions since Harlequins beat them there in the European Challenge Cup on November 19
– Leinster have the best defence in the PRO12 having conceded only 13 tries so far
– The Leinstermen’s only defeat in their last nine league fixtures was 23-13 on a visit to the Newport Gwent Dragons in round 13
– Leinster have won just once in their last six visits to Wales, beating the Ospreys at Liberty Stadium on January 8
– Cardiff Blues have beaten Leinster only once in their last 18 fixtures in all competitions (11-3 at Cardiff City Stadium in the PRO12 in February 2011), while Leinster’s most recent defeat at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park came in May 2007
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