The first competitive evening of the season in Donnybrook has been disrupted with the cancellation of the Leinster 'A' match against London Irish 'A'. The senior game will go ahead as planned at 7.30pm.
Leinster were forced to abandon the 'A' match when London Irish informed them that due to injuries, they didn't have enough props to field for both matches. It's a disappointing start for coach Colin McEntee and assistants Richie Murphy and Emmet Farrell, while it deprives some of the fringe and younger players from getting a first run out in front of a home crowd.
"It was an important part of our pre-season and preparation," said a Leinster official yesterday. "And it was a good opportunity for the younger lads and those maybe on the fringe of the senior side to get a game. We frantically tried to arrange something else but it's very disappointing for us and for London Irish too."
All three provinces open their competitive seasons this evening, with Leinster in Donnybrook against the Exiles (7.30pm), Munster facing the Leicester Tigers in Musgrave Park (7pm) and Ulster against the Division One English side, Rotherham Titans, at Ravenhill Road (7.30pm).
Leinster can call on the services of Felipe Contepomi for the first time this season as well as several Churchill Cup players, Jamie Heaslip, Rob Kearney and Kieran Lewis. Trevor Hogan looks set to make his debut, while eyes will also focus on the Australian duo of Owen Finegan and Chris Whitaker.
London Irish have announced a 31-man squad for the trip and have 13 international players involved, including Justin Bishop, Bob Casey, Mike Catt, Danie Coetzee, Dominic Feaunati, Michael Horak, Tonga Lea'aetoa, Juan Leguizamon, Olivier Magne, Phil Murphy, Robbie Russell, Sailosi Tagicakibau and Gonzala Tiesi. Former Leinster players Barry Everitt and Ben Willis are also included. The match will be played over three periods of 30 minutes.
Leicester Tigers coach, Pat Howard, has named 11 internationals in his starting line-up for tonight's clash with the Heineken European Cup champions Munster, while summer signing Paul Burke makes an immediate return to Ireland. The international outhalf came off the Tigers' bench in the second half of last week's victory over Toulon and now gets a run-out against the club he left at the end of last season. Burke teams up with some familiar faces. Geordan Murphy lines out on the wing, while former Leinster players Shane Jennings and Leo Cullen are also named to start.
Other summer signings Martin Castrogiovanni and Jordan Crane also retain their starting positions in the Leicester side after making a strong impression against Toulon.
"Munster is about getting game-time for the guys and getting a performance. We want to take our training ground patterns and combinations into a game," said Howard.
Justin Harrison is named as the Ulster captain in Belfast and while much of the talk centres around the return of Kieron Dawson, who starts the match at blindside, it is also expected to be a pivotal season for the talented Stephen Ferris, who also begins in the backrow.
Ireland have also scheduled an 'A' international against Australia 'A' during the autumn series of internationals. It will take place in Thomond Park on November 15th.
LEICESTER: S Vesty; G Murphy, D Hipkiss, D Gibson (c), T Varndell; P Burke, H Ellis; H Tuilagi, S Jennings, J Crane, L Deacon, L Cullen, J White, G Chute, M Castrogiovanni.
LONDON IRISH: D Armitage, S Armitage, J Bishop, B Casey, M Catt, D Coetzee, A Corbieiero, D Danaher, B Everitt, D Feaunati, R Flutey, S Geraghty, P Hodgson, M Horak, J Hudson, G Johnson, N Kennedy, T Lea'aetoa, J Leguizamon, S Mackie, O Magne, P Murphy, T Ojo, K Roche, R Russell, D Shabbo, T Standfield, S Tagicakibau, G Tiesi, T Warren, B Willis.
