Rugby - Team News:Mike Ross will start in place of the injured Stan Wright when the defending champions Leinster open their Heineken European Cup campaign against London Irish at the RDS tomorrow (8pm), while Ulster have also made just one change ahead of the meeting with Bath at Ravenhill (7.30pm).
Ross's inclusion comes after Wright strained his pectoral muscle during the 30-0 win over Munster last weekend. CJ van der Linde and Ronan McCormack are both named on an eight man bench as frontrow cover.
Other than that, it’s as you were with Eoin Reddan partnering Jonathan Sexton in the halfbacks and Brian O’Driscoll forming a central pairing with Gordon D’Arcy.
Shane Horgan, Isa Nacewa and Luke Fitzgerald are the back three, with Rob Kearney on the bench alongside Malcolm O’Kelly, who offers cover for captain Leo Cullen and fellow lock Nathan Hines.
The Exiles will be captained by former Blackrock College boarder Bob Casey, who will lock horns with one-time room-mate Cullen at the RDS.
After his late withdrawal from the Ulster side that beat the Scarlets 45-24 last Friday, Chris Henry returns to the bench for Ulster, with Willie Faloon continuing on the openside.
The only change on the pitch is hooker Andy Kyriacou's inclusion in the frontrow instead of Nigel Brady.
Simon Danielli is named on the bench after returning from injury.
In Munster Tony McGahan has named a 27-strong squad for their opening game against Northampton Saints in Franklins Gardens on Saturday.
The Magners League champions will be looking to bounce back following their record defeat against Leinster and scrumhalf Tomas O'Leary knows Munster have it all to do.
"None of us played well against Leinster last weekend and we've addressed that now and there is no point dwelling on it," he said.
"Saturday is the most important thing and getting off to a good start, the Heineken Cup is such a big part of our season.
“They're a very formidable side with a great home record…we can't dwell on Northampton too much. We can only look after our own performance."
Leinster: I Nacewa; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald; J Sexton, E Reddan; C Healy, J Fogarty, M Ross; L Cullen (capt), N Hines; K McLaughlin, S Jennings, J Heaslip. Replacements: B Jackman, R McCormack, CJ van der Linde, M O'Kelly, S O'Brien, S Keogh, S Berne, R Kearney
London Irish: P Hewat; T Homer, E Seveali'i, S Mapusua, S Tagicakibau; C Malone, P Hodgson; C Dermody, D Paice, F Rautenbach; N Kennedy, B Casey; D Danaher, S Armitage, C Hala'Ufia. Replacements: D Coetzee, D Murphy, P Ion, A Perry, R Thorpe, 21. J Lennard, R Lamb, A Lalanne.
Ulster: C Schifcofske; T Nagusa, D Cave, P Wallace, A Trimble; I Humphreys, I Boss; T Court, A Kyriacou, BJ Botha; E O'Donoghue, R Caldwell, S Ferris, W Faloon, R Diack. Replacements: N Brady, B Young, D Fitzpatrick, N McComb, C Henry, P Marshall, I Whitten, S Danielli.
Bath: N Abendanon; J Maddock, M Carraro, S Hape, M Banahan; R Davis, M Claassens; D Flatman, L Mears, D Bell; S Hooper, D Grewcock; A Beattie, J Salvi, J Fa'amatuainu. Replacements : P Dixon, D Barnes, A Jarvis, P Short, B Skirving, S Bemand, N Little, J Cuthbert.
Munster squad(v Northampton Saints): M Horan, J Brugnaut; T Buckley, D Hurley, D Ryan, D Fogarty, J Flannery, D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll, P O'Connell, D Ryan, D Leamy, N Ronan, D Wallace, N Williams, A Quinlan, T O'Leary, T Morland, P Stringer, R O'Gara, P Warwick, J de Villiers, L Mafi, D Howlett, I Dowling, D Hurley, K Earls.
