Larmour’s three-month lay-off following a dislocated shoulder is over, with the Ireland star returning on the right wing. Dave Kearney continues on the left and Hugo Keenan is back on provincial duty at full-back.
Captain Jonathan Sexton, who has completed his return-to-play protocols, is the only other starter retained from the Connacht game. He is joined at half-back by Jamison Gibson-Park, while Ross Byrne switches to outside centre, alongside Robbie Henshaw, for the first time in his senior career.
An entirely new pack has hooker Sean Cronin making his first start of the season after recovering from a thumb injury. He combines in the front row with fellow internationals Cian Healy and Andrew Porter.
Stand-in skipper Rhys Ruddock has shaken off a rib injury to fill the blindside berth, alongside Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris, with Scott Fardy and James Ryan packing down together in the engine room.
On the bench, Harry Byrne returns from the back injury he picked up during the warm-up before last month’s Heineken Champions Cup home match against Northampton Saints.
Speaking ahead of the top of the table encounter, second row Ryan said: “We’re treating this very much like a cup final. Ulster will be doing the same. They’re probably out of Europe now, but they’re unbeaten in the league.
“They’ll back themselves going away from home. I think they’ll have a lot of belief coming here. So there’s a bit of an edge to our preparation this week.
“Probably a bit of a fear factor as well, which is often needed. We realise that if we don’t perform then we won’t get the result we’re looking for.”
Meanwhile, Ulster head coach Dan McFarland has made six changes to his team for their crunch showdown with the reigning PRO14 champions in Ballsbridge.
With a knee injury ruling out Jacob Stockdale, Michael Lowry returns at full-back and is joined on the wings by Matt Faddes and Ethan McIlroy, last week’s try-scoring player-of-the-match against Munster.
The rest of the back-line is unchanged with a settled look to the centre pairing of James Hume and Stuart McCloskey, as well as the half-back combination of Ireland duo Billy Burns and John Cooney.
Andrew Warwick and Alan O’Connor come back into the tight five, starting alongside Rob Herring, Martin Moore, who is set for his 12th start of the season, and captain Sam Carter.
It is all change in the back row as Academy graduate Greg Jones links up with international pair Jordi Murphy and Marcell Coetzee, meaning a bench role for Nick Timoney.
John Andrew, Eric O’Sullivan, Tom O’Toole, Kieran Treadwell and Timoney will provide the back-up for the forwards, while reserve backs David Shanahan, Ian Madigan and recent debutant Ben Moxham complete the matchday 23.
With unbeaten Ulster currently holding a 10-point lead at the top of the Conference standings, out-half Burns commented: “An interpro is not just another league match, there is always an added energy to the week and the game.
“Leinster have proven to be the top province over the four provinces for a while now so the opportunity to go to their place and to try to beat them at any time is an exciting one.
“This will have a pretty big bearing on the standings and with the new format it becomes more important.
“I know Leinster have a couple of games in hand, but we’ve got a bit of a gap and we want to build on that so it’s all about going down there and getting four points and pushing our claims on that final spot.
“There is still plenty of rugby to be played after this weekend but it will put the side that wins on the front foot.”
LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan; Jordan Larmour, Ross Byrne, Robbie Henshaw, Dave Kearney; Jonathan Sexton (capt), Jamison Gibson-Park; Cian Healy, Sean Cronin, Andrew Porter, Scott Fardy, James Ryan, Rhys Ruddock, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
Replacements: James Tracy, Ed Byrne, Michael Bent, Ross Molony, Jack Conan, Luke McGrath, Harry Byrne, Jimmy O’Brien.
ULSTER: Michael Lowry; Matt Faddes, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Ethan McIlroy; Billy Burns, John Cooney; Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Martin Moore, Alan O’Connor, Sam Carter (capt), Greg Jones, Jordi Murphy, Marcell Coetzee.
Replacements: John Andrew, Eric O’Sullivan, Tom O’Toole, Kieran Treadwell, Nick Timoney, David Shanahan, Ian Madigan, Ben Moxham.
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Sean Gallagher, Eoghan Cross (both Ireland)
TMO: Joy Neville (Ireland)
Pre-Match Quotes: Leo Cullen (Leinster) –
We are 10 points behind Ulster. You don’t need to be a mathematician to understand that this is a massive game for us.
“There’s so much at stake. It definitely has a feel of a very important game for us. We love the challenge. It sets us up for Europe for the following couple of weeks, which is huge.
“Ulster are hugely motivated coming to the RDS, similar to the Connacht players. It’s about understanding that motivation and ensuring that we’re not getting caught cold.
“Johnny’s managed to tick all his relevant boxes and is good to go. He’s comfortable. How these three guys set up – Johnny, Ross and Robbie – we’ll keep everybody guessing.
“It’s about combinations. Ross can be at 12, be a receiver and a kicking option. Now we can see it in a match situation, which will be nice.”
Dan McFarland (Ulster) –
I don’t live in Leinster’s camp but whenever I hear things that come from there, they talk about their process and focus on their performance and I genuinely believe that’s why they’ve been as good as they have been for this length of time.
“And if that is the focus, I suppose there’ll be a little bit of proof in the pudding of how they go out this week but I suspect when they win, which they usually do, and they don’t play very well, they are pretty hard on themselves.
“So when they’ve lost and they haven’t played as well, they’ll be hard on themselves again. In terms of how that affects us, they had real injury problems last week, we all know that.
“They had some Covid problems to deal with and they had some inexperienced guys in there. But they’ve a lot of quality players.
“They lost a game of rugby, the biggest surprise is it’s one out of 26. If I said a team that has lost one out of 27 games was vulnerable? I don’t think so. This is a massive challenge for us and we recognise it as such.”
Top Scorers – 2020/21 Guinness PRO14: Leinster – Points: Harry Byrne 46; Tries: Scott Penny 6; Ulster – Points: John Cooney 78; Tries: Marcell Coetzee 8
2020/21 TEAM FORM: Leinster – Played 8, Won 7, Lost 1, 36 Points; W 35-5 v Dragons (home), W 37-25 v Benetton Rugby (away), W 63-8 v Zebre (home), W 32-19 v Glasgow Warriors (away), W 26-7 v Ospreys (away), W 50-10 v Edinburgh (home), W 40-5 v Cardiff Blues (home), L 35-24 v Connacht (home)
Ulster – Played 10, Won 10, Lost 0, 46 Points; W 35-24 v Benetton Rugby (home), W 24-12 v Ospreys (away), W 40-17 v Dragons (home), W 11-7 v Cardiff Blues (away), W 40-15 v Glasgow Warriors (home), W 57-14 v Zebre (away), W 26-24 v Scarlets (home), W 43-14 v Edinburgh (away), W 32-19 v Connacht (away), W 15-10 v Munster (home)
RECENT CHAMPIONSHIP MEETINGS:
Saturday, January 6, 2018 – Leinster 38 Ulster 7, the RDS
Saturday, January 5, 2019 – Leinster 40 Ulster 7, the RDS
Saturday, April 27, 2019 – Ulster 14 Leinster 13, Kingspan Stadium
Friday, December 20, 2019 – Leinster 54 Ulster 42, the RDS
Saturday, August 29, 2020 – Ulster 10 Leinster 28, Aviva Stadium
Saturday, September 12, 2020 – Final – Leinster 27 Ulster 5, Aviva Stadium
MATCH FACTS:
– Leinster’s incredible 26-match winning run in the Guinness PRO14 ended last Saturday at the hands of Connacht
– The Leinstermen have never lost successive Championship matches at the RDS
– Ulster are now the only remaining side with a 100% winning record in the PRO14 this season, winning ten out of ten so far
– The last time the Ulstermen lost away from home in the Championship was to Connacht at the Aviva Stadium in August
– Leinster have lost only once to Ulster in their last eight meetings in all tournaments: 14-13 in Belfast in April 2019
– Ulster’s lone victory in 17 previous visits to the RDS came in March 2013