Garry Ringrose and Caelan Doris return to the Leinster starting XV to face Leicester Tigers in the quarter-final of the Heineken Champions Cup on Friday evening in the Aviva Stadium (Kick-Off: 8pm – live on RTÉ2 and BT Sport 1).
They replace Jordan Larmour and the injured Josh van der Flier, in the only two personnel changes from last week’s win over Ulster, with Doris starting at openside.
Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw form the centre partnership for the first time since October’s win over Munster, while Larmour misses out altogether as the bench is unchanged.
Leo Cullen admitted that opting for Doris at ‘7′ was something the coaches discussed at length.
“Caelan would be the one who covers ‘7′ anyway and over the course of the last number of seasons, that’s something that he has done. We have Scott [Penny] there as well. so you think of the relationship of those four back rowers, Ryan Baird and Jack Conan I thought played really well last week, and that was the feeling.
“Scott has been outstanding for us all season but Caelan has also brought something very unique throughout the last couple of seasons, really, hasn’t he?
“But yeah, we’re blessed, we’ve got some guys there and Caelan is performing at a world-class level, isn’t he?
“We’re excited to see how these guys go.”
Welcoming back Ringrose, Cullen said: “Garry is such a key figure for us. He captained the team during the pool stages and in that block of games leading into the Six Nations. He sees everything, Garry, he knows what’s going on, he’s got a good feel for the group, exceptional player himself, so it’s a great boost for the team.
“It’s hugely competitive as well. Jordan is incredibly unlucky to drop out now after starting last week, another one that we debated a fair bit as well.
“Some selections have been extremely tricky but it’s great to have Garry back because he has such experience and his ability as well.”
Cullen also expects a stronger challenge from his former club than was the case in last season’s quarter-final, noting that since then they became Premiership champions, although he’s not sure if their approach will be that different.
“It is well documented that when we rocked up in Welford Road on a lovely sunny day and when you’re walking around the pitch it’s covered in surface water!
“I guess that leaves a bit of an indication in the mindset they had last year. Whether that mindset is the same? To a point it is, definitely. They still go with that aerial game, try to base their game around strong set-piece, contact area, and they’ll battle for everything.
“They have changed their DNA from the time that I was laying over there, and the 20/30 years prior to that. The club is based on hard work, some great people there, they’ll fight for everything and our guys have been made well aware of it.”
Richard Wigglesworth has made six positional changes to his starting side from the win over Edinburgh Rugby at Welford Road last Friday, which includes four new faces in the starting line-up from the Round of 16 victory.
Mike Brown returns at fullback, which sees Freddie Steward shift to the wing and Harry Potter move to outside centre.
The former Irish Under-20 international Dan Kelly, who came off the bench against Edinburgh, starts at inside centre alongside Potter in the midfield.
Kelly’s inclusion is a direct swap with the former Lienster outhalf Jimmy Gopperth, who is included on the bench.
In the forward pack, there are two changes from the last outing, with Joe Heyes and Jasper Wiese coming into the starting team after featuring as replacements last week. The former Munster loosehead James Cronin starts again.
Heyes and Wiese come in for Dan Cole and Olly Cracknell, who are included on the bench for the trip to Dublin.
Sam Wolstenholme, who was an unused replacement against Edinburgh, will make his Leicester Tigers debut if he features against Leinster.
LEINSTER: 15. Hugo Keenan, 14. Jimmy O’Brien, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Robbie Henshaw, 11. James Lowe, 10. Ross Byrne, 9. Jamison Gibson-Park, 1. Andrew Porter, 2. Dan Sheehan, 3. Tadhg Furlong, 4. Ross Molony, 5. James Ryan (c), 6. Ryan Baird, 7. Caelan Doris, 8. Jack Conan. Replacements: 16. John McKee, 17. Cian Healy, 18. Michael Ala’alatoa, 19. Jason Jenkins, 20. Scott Penny, 21. Luke McGrath, 22. Harry Byrne, 23. Ciaran Frawley.
LEICESTER TIGERS: 15. Mike Brown, 14. Anthony Watson, 13. Harry Potter, 12. Dan Kelly, 11. Freddie Steward, 10. Handré Pollard, 9. Jack van Poortvliet, 1. James Cronin, 2. Julian Montoya (c), 3. Joe Heyes, 4. George Martin, 5. Cameron Henderson, 6. Hanro Liebenberg, 7. Tommy Reffell, 8. Jasper Wiese. Replacements: 16. Charlie Clare, 17. Tom West, 18. Dan Cole, 19. Eli Snyman, 20. Olly Cracknell, 21. Sam Wolstenholme, 22. Charlie Atkinson, 23. Jimmy Gopperth.
