Leinster have drafted Brian O’Driscoll, Shane Horgan and Kevin McLaughlin straight back into the starting line-up for the Heineken Cup quarter-final against Clermont Auvergne at the RDS tomorrow. The trio return for the European champions in the only changes from the one-point win over Munster at Thomond Park last week.
Horgan replaces Girvan Dempsey on the right wing, O’Driscoll comes into outside centre in place of Fergus McFadden and McLaughlin is preferred to Devin Toner in a call that sees Nathan Hines move back into the secondrow alongside captain Leo Cullen.
Of the three outgoing players, only Dempsey is named on a strong bench, with the scrumhalf Paul O'Donohoe the most inexperienced of eight.
It is Horgan’s return that arguably makes the biggest impact for Leinster, given the absence of Luke Fitzgerald and David Kearney, and the desire to see the latter’s brother, Rob, settled back into the number 15 jersey.
O’Driscoll is back in tandem with Gordon D’Arcy, a partnership that remains peerless, notwithstanding the fact the Ireland captain hasn’t played since defeat to Scotland in the Six Nations three weeks ago.
McLaughlin’s recovery from the shoulder injury picked up in the win over Glasgow on St Patrick's Day is also timely, given his abrasive playing style and Heineken Cup form earlier in the season.
LEINSTER (v Clermont Auvergne):Rob Kearney; Shane Horgan, Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy, Isa Nacewa; Jonathan Sexton, Eoin Reddan; Stan Wright, John Fogarty, CJ van der Linde; Leo Cullen (captain), Nathan Hines; Kevin McLaughlin, Shane Jennings, Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements:Bernard Jackman, Mike Ross, Cian Healy, Malcolm O'Kelly, Stephen Keogh, Paul O'Donohoe, Shaun Berne, Girvan Dempsey.