Rugby:Isa Nacewa will make his first start of the season for Leinster when the province kick off their Rabodirect Pro 12 campaign against the Ospreys tomorrow night. The fullback, who chose not to travel to the World Cup with Fiji, has fully recovered from a leg injury.
Nacewa, who did not feature in any of Leinster’s pre-season matches, is joined in the starting line-up by Eoin O’Malley and Richardt Strauss.
Leinster coach Joe Schmidt, without 17 players due to World Cup commitments and injury, has named the strongest side at his disposal for the match at the Liberty Stadium.
That means Luke Fitzgearld has another chance to put his World Cup disappointment behind him with the Ireland international named in the centre. With Leo Cullen in New Zealand, Rhys Ruddock will lead the side once more.
Brian McLaughlin has handed a competitive debut to Lewis Stevenson in the secondrow for Ulster’s meeting with Glasgow at Ravenhill.
A potent backline, which includes Nevin Spence and Craig Gilroy, will be marshaled by Ian Humphreys while youngsters Conor Carey and Peter Nelson are named among the replacements.
Leinster(v Ospreys): I Nacewa; F Carr, E O'Malley, L Fitzgerald, D Kearney; M Berquist, John Cooney; H van der Merwe, R Strauss, J Hagan; D Browne, D Toner, K McLaughlin, D Ryan, R Ruddock (capt). Replacements:A Dundon, J McGrath, J O'Connell, M Flanagan, L Auva'a, C Willis, I Madigan, B Macken
Ulster(v Glasgow):A D'Arcy; C Gilroy, D Cave, N Spence, I Whitten; I Humphreys, P Marshall; (1-8) P McAllister, A Kyriacou, J Cronin, L Stevenson, D Tuohy, P Wannenburg, W Faloon, C Henry (capt). Replacements:N Brady, C Carey, A Macklin, N McComb, R Diack, I Porter, P Jackson, P Nelson.
