GUINNESS PRO12 Preview: Leinster v Cardiff Blues

Leinster secured a narrow 16-13 win in the Welsh capital back in round 5 and now welcome Cardiff Blues to Dublin as they lead the GUINNESS PRO12 by two points from the second-placed Ospreys.

GUINNESS PRO12: Saturday, March 25

LEINSTER (1st) v CARDIFF BLUES (8th), the RDS, 3pm (live Sky Sports 2 HD/TG4)

Team News: Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has named his team for this afternoon’s GUINNESS PRO12 clash with Cardiff Blues at the RDS. Tickets for the game are still on sale on www.leinsterrugby.ie.

After two weekends with no PRO12 action, Cullen has been able to recall a number of players that had been out through injury. Isa Nacewa comes back in to captain the side on the left wing, with Adam Byrne on the right and Joey Carbery continuing at full-back.

Noel Reid is selected in the number 12 jersey for the 14th time this season. His midfield partner this week is Rory O’Loughlin who returns from a shoulder injury. Luke McGrath and Ross Byrne start together as half-back for the first time since the New Year’s Eve win over Ulster.

In the pack, Cian Healy returns from Ireland Six Nations duty to pack down beside fellow internationals Richardt Strauss and Michael Bent. Ross Molony and Hayden Triggs will link up in the second row.

Fresh from his Six Nations debut against England last weekend, Dan Leavy returns to provincial duty at blindside flanker, with Josh van der Flier back from a shoulder injury at openside.

Rhys Ruddock will start at number 8 for only the second time this season. His first appearance at the base of the scrum was also against Cardiff in October where he scored the only try of the game.

Meanwhile, winger Blaine Scully will captain Cardiff Blues in Dublin. The USA international, who has skippered his country on various occasions, is one of five changes head coach Danny Wilson has made to the starting line-up following the recent 23-13 defeat to Munster.

Scully and Alex Cuthbert are named on the wings, combining with full-back Matthew Morgan in the back-three, and replacing Tom James and Aled Summerhill respectively. Kristian Dacey returns from international duty to start at hooker, and is the only change in the pack.

Tomos Williams is given the nod at scrum half, with his namesake Lloyd named on the bench. Gareth Anscombe continues his role at out-half and Rey Lee-Lo replaces Willis Halaholo at outside centre, with Steven Shingler keeping his place at number 12.

Club captain Gethin Jenkins makes a long-awaited return from a bicep injury and will start the game on the bench. Elsewhere, Ellis Jenkins, who also returns from a recent injury lay-off, is named among the replacements.

LEINSTER: Joey Carbery; Adam Byrne, Rory O’Loughlin, Noel Reid, Isa Nacewa (capt); Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath; Cian Healy, Richardt Strauss, Michael Bent, Ross Molony, Hayden Triggs, Dan Leavy, Josh van der Flier, Rhys Ruddock.

Replacements: James Tracy, Peter Dooley, Mike Ross, Mick Kearney, Max Deegan, Jamison Gibson Park, Tom Daly, Fergus McFadden.

CARDIFF BLUES: Matthew Morgan; Alex Cuthbert, Rey Lee-Lo, Steven Shingler, Blaine Scully (capt); Gareth Anscombe, Tomos Williams; Corey Domachowski, Kristian Dacey, Anton Peikrishvili, George Earle, Jarrad Hoeata, Macauley Cook, Josh Navidi, Nick Williams.

Replacements: Matthew Rees, Gethin Jenkins, Scott Andrews, Sion Bennett, Ellis Jenkins, Lloyd Williams, Willis Halaholo, Tom James.

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Matteo Liperini (Italy), Richard Kerr (Ireland)
Television Match Official: Stefano Penne (Italy)

Match Odds (Paddy Power): Leinster to win: 1/9; Draw: 30/1; Cardiff Blues to win: 11/2

Pre-Match Quotes: Ross Byrne (Leinster) – “I think the league as a whole has improved a lot this year. I think it’s a lot more competitive all round. You just have to look at how tight it is at the top of the table.

“For us, it’s probably just the way we are training at the moment. We’re constantly trying to improve and throw that pass. Obviously when it comes off, it’s great and we score tries but there are times when it doesn’t come off as well. It probably took us quite a while at the start of the season.

“We weren’t really scoring that many but then when you get a bit of momentum, things start coming off and then everyone starts believing in the way that you are playing. We keep scoring (tries) so hopefully we can continue to do that.

“We always knew the break was coming up so before these four games started, we just had targeted them and getting as many points out of them as possible.”

Danny Wilson (Cardiff Blues) – “I think the two weeks has given some of the boys an opportunity to recover and we’ve got a relatively healthy squad. For the first time in a few weeks we’ve had more than 30 players fully fit to train which has allowed us to prepare much better than we have previously. 

“The long-term injured are obviously still injured but we are certainly looking a lot more healthy than we were even a month ago. We have won more games on the road than we did last year, comfortably. We knew going into pre-season that we wanted to improve our away record. 

“We went about ways of targeting away games in the preparations, and we’ve certainly achieved that. But consistency is something we’ll need to build upon for next season. It’s about building performances now, and we need a performance away at Leinster to then go into a quarter-final against Gloucester the very next week, which is a key target game for us

“We’ve got some big games ahead of us and they’re games we’re going to take extremely seriously, because if we don’t make the top six (in the PRO12) we can be in a play-off spot which gives us an opportunity to make the Champions Cup next year.”

2016/17 TEAM FORM: Leinster – Played 17, Won 14, Lost 3, 66 Points; W 20-8 v Benetton Treviso (home), L 33-25 v Glasgow Warriors (away), W 33-20 v Edinburgh (away), W 31-19 v Ospreys (home), W 16-13 v Cardiff Blues (away), W 25-14 v Munster (home), W 24-13 v Connacht (home), W 33-10 v Zebre (away), L 38-29 v Scarlets (away), W 28-15 v Newport Gwent Dragons (home), L 29-17 v Munster (away), W 22-7 v Ulster (home), W 70-6 v Zebre (home), W 40-14 v Benetton Treviso (away), W 39-10 v Edinburgh (home), W 54-22 v Newport Gwent Dragons (away), W 45-9 v Scarlets (home); Cardiff Blues – Played 17, Won 8, Lost 9, 37 Points; W 34-16 v Edinburgh (home), W 24-23 v Munster (away), W 23-19 v Glasgow Warriors (home), W 23-21 v Zebre (away), L 16-13 v Leinster (home), L 46-24 v Ospreys (away), L 26-15 v Scarlets (home), W 34-28 v Benetton Treviso (away), L 18-7 v Connacht (away), L 35-22 v Ulster (home), W 27-16 v Newport Gwent Dragons (home), L 15-10 v Scarlets (away), L 29-15 v Glasgow Warriors (away), L 19-13 v Connacht (home), W 57-20 v Benetton Treviso (home), W 18-17 v Edinburgh (away), L 23-13 v Munster (home)

RECENT LEAGUE MEETINGS:

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
Saturday, February 20, 2016 – Cardiff Blues 13 Leinster 14, BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park
Saturday, October 1, 2016 – Cardiff Blues 13 Leinster 16, BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park

MATCH FACTS:

– Leinster have won their last six GUINNESS PRO12 fixtures since losing out to Munster in Limerick at Christmas

– The Leinstermen have won their last 20 home games in all competitions since their defeat to Toulon in the Champions Cup at the Aviva Stadium in December 2015, while the last side to lower their colours at the RDS was the Newport Gwent Dragons in the PRO12 in February 2015

– Cardiff Blues’ 18-17 victory at Edinburgh in their most recent away match ended a three-game losing streak on the road in the PRO12

– The Blues have lost their last five matches against Irish provinces since winning against Munster in Cork in round 2 this season

– Leinster have won their last 12 matches against the Blues in all competitions, while the Welshmen’s only victory over the Leinstermen since 2007 was 11-3 at the Cardiff City Stadium in February 2011