With some of their big guns making a welcome return, Leinster will aim to put their disappointing showing in Bloemfontein behind them when they entertain Edinburgh at the RDS tonight.
GUINNESS PRO14: Friday, September 29
LEINSTER (3rd, Con B) v EDINBURGH (4th, Con B), the RDS, 7.35pm (live TG4/BBC ALBA)
Team News: Four of the Leinster players that toured New Zealand with the British & Irish Lions during the summer are back on duty with Leo Cullen’s men for round 5 of the GUINNESS PRO14.
Joey Carbery is selected at full-back for the third game in a row, with Dave Kearney continuing on the left wing with Fergus McFadden making his first start of the campaign on the opposite flank. He has recovered from a hamstring injury picked up ahead of the recent win over the Southern Kings.
Noel Reid and Rory O’Loughlin form an all-St. Michael’s College centre pairing, while another former St. Michael’s pupil, Luke McGrath, starts at scrum half having recovered from an arm injury.
The first of the returning Lions players sees Jonathan Sexton captain the province from number 10. Tonight’s game could be extra special for Sexton as he is only nine points away from becoming Leinster’s all-time highest points scorer. Felipe Contepomi currently sits on top with 1225 points, with Sexton on 1217.
Up front, another two Lions line out with Jack McGrath and Tadhg Furlong making their seasonal bows, starting either side of fellow Ireland international Sean Cronin. Scott Fardy and Devin Toner both return to the second row having missed the two-match tour of South Africa.
Sean O’Brien is the final Lions addition, slotting back in at number 8 in a back row completed by Rhys Ruddock and Jordi Murphy. The trio have 332 Leinster caps between them, with Ruddock leading the way with 134 appearances so far.
Meanwhile, Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill has made nine changes to the team that lost 28-8 to the reigning champions, the Scarlets, in Llanelli last weekend.
In the back-three, Glenn Bryce and Dougie Fife rotate in for Jason Harries and Blair Kinghorn, as the latter drops to the bench. Tom Brown keeps his place on the right wing.
Scotland Sevens star James Jonhstone makes his first start of the season and is partnered in midfield by the experienced Phil Burleigh. A revamped half-back partnership sees Jason Tovey make his first start of the 2017/18 campaign alongside Sam Hidalgo-Clyne who replaces Nathan Fowles.
Up front, Stuart McInally continues at hooker and will make his 106th appearance in the black and red. The 27-year-old will pack down alongside Simon Berghan and London-born loosehead Darryl Marfo, who makes his second start for the club.
Grant Gilchrist is joined in the second row by Fraser McKenzie, who skippers the side on his first start of the season. The only alteration to an otherwise unchanged back row sees Cornell du Preez replace the rested Magnus Bradbury at number 8.
LEINSTER: Joey Carbery; Fergus McFadden, Rory O’Loughlin, Noel Reid, Dave Kearney; Jonathan Sexton (capt), Luke McGrath; Jack McGrath, Sean Cronin, Tadhg Furlong, Devin Toner, Scott Fardy, Rhys Ruddock, Jordi Murphy, Sean O’Brien.
Replacements: Bryan Byrne, Ed Byrne, Andrew Porter, Ross Molony, Max Deegan, Jamison Gibson-Park, Ross Byrne, Jordan Larmour.
EDINBURGH: Glenn Bryce; Tom Brown, James Johnstone, Phil Burleigh, Dougie Fife; Jason Tovey, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne; Darryl Marfo, Stuart McInally, Simon Berghan, Fraser McKenzie (capt), Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Cornell du Preez.
Replacements: Neil Cochrane, Murray McCallum, Kevin Bryce, Anton Bresler, John Hardie, Nathan Fowles, Blair Kinghorn, Robbie Fruean.
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Kieran Barry (Ireland)
Television Match Official: Jon Mason (Wales)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Leinster to win: 1/25; Draw: 50/1; Edinburgh to win: 13/1
Pre-Match Quotes: Leo Cullen (Leinster) – “It is another tricky assignment for us this week. Edinburgh are coming off the back of two losses and knowing Richard Cockerill well, I know the mindset and approach they’ll take into the game. We need to be ready physically for what’s going to be coming at us.
“Hopefully, we will get a big crowd. It is important for the players, playing in front of their home crowd. They want to produce special moments the crowd can get behind. So many players come through the system here to be in front of friends and family.
“Hopefully, that leads into such an important part of the season. It is the feeling of, ‘we are at the start of the season now’…back at home at the RDS. Hopefully, we can kick on from there.
“Johnny is unbelievably passionate about the team, about us all getting better and getting better himself. It took him a while to get into the team, you think back to the days when he was fighting it out with Felipe and he had his little snippets in the team. I remember that season well, Felipe gets injured in that game against Munster in 2009 and the rest is history.
“Johnny steps in, goes on to lead the team for the rest of that game and the final the same. He goes on for a very successful period, he goes to France and we all know how that unfolded. What he did in New Zealand (with the Lions), the impact he had in the second and third Tests. It’s huge.
“You could see he is such a key leadership figure and his knowledge of the game and experience that he has, there’s nobody like him out there at the moment. He goes on to play a huge role in the (Lions) team, comes back hungry and wants Leinster to do well.
“He’s ambitious to get better himself. He’s unbelievably hungry to improve as an individual and that’s contagious in the group as well. We’re excited to have him back and he’s definitely going to be a huge contributor to the group.”
Richard Cockerill (Edinburgh) – “We’ve made a few changes to the side, but we have depth across the squad. The guys who’ve come in will provide us with competition and I expect them to fight for a place in this team. If we match the levels of desire that were shown against the Scarlets last weekend, I have every confidence that we can come away with a positive result.”
Top Scorers – 2017/18 GUINNESS PRO14: Leinster – Points: Ross Byrne 37; Tries: Barry Daly 4; Edinburgh – Points: Duncan Weir 35; Tries: Chris Dean 3
2017/18 TEAM FORM: Leinster – Played 4, Won 3, Lost 1, 15 Points; W 39-16 v Dragons (away), W 37-9 v Cardiff Blues (home), W 31-10 v Southern Kings (away), L 38-19 v Toyota Cheetahs (away); Edinburgh – Played 4, Won 2, Lost 2, 10 Points; W 20-10 v Cardiff Blues (away), W 35-18 v Dragons (home), L 20-17 v Benetton Rugby (home), L 28-8 v Scarlets (away)
RECENT LEAGUE MEETINGS:
Friday, October 31, 2014 – Leinster 33 Edinburgh 8, the RDS
Saturday, May 16, 2015 – Edinburgh 23 Leinster 36, BT Murrayfield
Friday, September 4, 2015 – Edinburgh 16 Leinster 9, Meggetland
Friday, April 15, 2016 – Leinster 30 Edinburgh 23, the RDS
Friday, September 16, 2016 – Edinburgh 20 Leinster 33, BT Murrayfield
Friday, February 17, 2017 – Leinster 39 Edinburgh 10, the RDS
MATCH FACTS:
– Leinster’s maximum-points start to the new season came to a grinding halt with their 38-19 loss in Bloemfontein last weekend. It was the first time that Leinster had failed to gain a league point in a GUINNESS PRO14 match since their visit to Munster last December
– The Leinstermen have not lost a regular season PRO14 encounter at the RDS since the Dragons visited in February 2015, while no Scottish side has won at the venue since Glasgow Warriors in September 2011
– Edinburgh have slipped to back-to-back defeats, at home to Benetton Rugby and away to the Scarlets
– The Scotsmen have won two of their last three away games, at Glasgow in round 22 last season and at Cardiff Blues on the opening weekend of the current campaign
– Edinburgh’s only victory over an Irish province since October 2015 was against Ulster at BT Murrayfield in November 2016, while they have not triumphed at the home of an Irish side since a trip to Connacht in January 2015
– Leinster have lost just one of their last seven fixtures with Edinburgh: 16-9 at Meggetland in round one of the 2015/16 season, while they have not beaten Leinster in Dublin since a visit to Donnybrook in November 2005
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