Galway have handed a championship debut to former All-Ireland Under-21 captain Kevin Hynes as they prepare to dip their toe in Leinster waters for the first time this Sunday.
Hynes, who skippered the Under-21 side to All-Ireland glory in 2007, has been handed a midfield berth for the clash against Laois in Portlaoise after he missed last summer’s campaign with a broken jaw.
Ollie Canning has been named captain and will have a lot of familiar faces around him as four of his Portumna team-mates have also been named in the starting fifteen, with younger brother Joe in at full forward.
Aonghus Callanan starts his first championship encounter, while John Lee has been named at centre back after opting out of the league campaign due to his studies.
GALWAY (v Laois):C Callanan; D Joyce, S Kavanagh, O Canning; F Moore, J Lee, A Cullinane; K Hynes, A Smith; A Callanan, K Hayes, C Donnellan; D Hayes, J Canning, N Healy.