Leinster set out on road to recovery

Celtic League -  Leinster v Ospreys Lansdowne Road, today, 7.35: The video session might have been cathartic but only in the aftermath.

Sitting through the footage of last Sunday's Heineken European Cup semi-final defeat by Munster would have been less than fun for the Leinster players, few if any emerging untarnished.

Leinster coach Michael Cheika was not, however, letting his charges wallow in self-pity.

"There was a mourning period, which goes with exiting any cup competition," said Cheika. "You scream and yell and get the anger out and then move on.

"Hopefully we can now get a bit of payback on an opposition who are doing very well. We've always said that the Celtic League is our week-in-week-out competition. We've got a hard run-in to the season because after this home game we're on the road for three games.

"You can dismiss defeats or face up to them. We did a detailed review of last weekend's game - as we always do. We know we've got to do better today.

"We're not disappointed. We're angry that we missed a great opportunity to get into a Heineken Cup final. That's an attitude that we're trying to change this year. Sometimes you get knocked down and you have to get up and move on."

Leinster have to do that without captain Brian O'Driscoll for tonight's clash with Ospreys; he picked up a knock on an arm and it's in a sling. He's likely to be available next week, as are Reggie Corrigan (calf) and Cameron Jowitt (back), who also miss tonight's game.

Kieran Lewis gets a deserved start in the centre alongside Gordon D'Arcy, while Ronan McCormack and Bernard Jackman come into the front row, the latter preferred to Brian Blaney, who started the Munster match. Bryce Williams is injured, so Adam Byrnes starts and Ben Gissing is on the bench.

Eric Miller deputises for Jowitt while Brian O'Meara's placekicking nudges him ahead of Brian O'Riordan for bench duty.

Cheika is well aware of the demands the Ospreys will make. "They're a really direct team. They were the instigators of the rush defence last year and have a lot of individual threats. The two Joneses are top class, as are the likes of Jason Spice and Stefan Terblanche. I think they're a strong all-round team."

The Welsh have priorities of their own as outlined by coach Lynn Jones: "Leinster are one of the top European sides . . . They had an uncharacteristic performance in last week's semi-final against Munster but they will now be concentrating fully on the Celtic League and looking to put things right against us this weekend.

"We will be concentrating on our own game and looking to build on the success of our victory over the Scarlets. It was a committed, disciplined and passionate performance against what was a formidable Scarlets outfit, and though we were delighted with the result we're now fully focused on the remaining fixtures."

The Ospreys have nine players unavailable - Steve Tandy (groin), Shane Williams (back muscle), Barry Williams (back), Paul James (back), Adrian Cashmore (back), Lee Beach (broken foot), Brent Cockbain (hamstring), David Bishop (knee) and Ryan Jones (shoulder).

Gavin Henson is available and is named in the centre.

Tonight is a test of Leinster's character and resilience. They can answer their detractors.

LEINSTER: G Dempsey; S Horgan, K Lewis, G D'Arcy, D Hickie; F Contepomi (capt), G Easterby; R McCormack, B Jackman, W Green; A Byrnes, M O'Kelly; E Miller, K Gleeson, J Heaslip. Replacements: E Byrne, B Blaney, B Gissing, N Ronan, B O'Meara, J Hepworth, R Kearney.

NEATH/SWANSEA OSPREYS: S Terblanche; R Mustoe, S Parker, G Henson, D Karauna; M Jones, J Spice; D Jones (capt), H Bennett, A Jones; A Wyn Jones, I Evans; J Bater, J Thomas, A Lloy. Replacements: R Hibbard, C Griffiths, L Bateman, R Pugh, M Roberts, A Bishop, J Vaughton.

Referee: David Changleng (Scotland).

Leading scorers: Leinster - Felipe Contepomi 231. Ospreys - Shaun Connor 78.

Leading try scorers: Leinster - Contepomi 7. Ospreys - Andrew Bishop 3.

Verdict: Leinster to win.

On TV: Setanta Sports