Magners League team news:With so many of their frontline players away on international duty, Rhys Ruddock has been handed the leadership duties for Leinster's match against Aironi tomorrow night.
With coach Joe Schmidt left with few options, the 20-year-old is named in a much-changed side for the visit of the Italians to the RDS. Kevin McLaughlin will start in the second row, while Brendan Macken makes a rare start in midfield.
Ian Madigan will be pulling the strings at outhalf with Paul O’Donohoe named alongside him. Both Shane Jennings and Isaac Boss will start on the replacements bench after Jennings missed out on selection for Sunday’s Six Nations clash with France.
Meanwhile, Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin has named a 31-man squad for the trip to Wales to take on the Ospreys on Sunday.
Nevin Spence, Ian Humphreys, Declan Fitzpatrick, Willie Faloon and Chris Henry, Nigel Brady and Paul Marshall are all included after representing the Irish Wolfhounds last week.
It’s Ulster’s first Magners League clash since the start of January and they will be looking to continue the momentum that has seen them win three games on the bounce. A win on Sunday would see them move ahead of Ospreys into fifth spot with a real chance of pushing for a play-off spot.
Leinster:I Nacewa; A Conway, B Macken, E O'Malley, D Kearney; I Madigan, P O'Donohoe; H van der Merwe, R Strauss, C Newland; K McLaughlin, D Toner; R Ruddock, D Ryan, S Keogh. Replacements:J Harris-Wright, J McGrath, S Shawe, E O'Donoghue, S Jennings, I Boss, I McKinley, N Morris.
Ulster squad – Forwards: J Cronin, D Fitzpatrick, P McAllister, B Young, A Whitten, N Brady, A Kyriacou, R Caldwell, N McComb, J Muller, T Barker, P Wannenburg, TJ Anderson, W Faloon, C Henry, R Diack.
Backs:R Pienaar, P Marshall, I Humphreys, N O'Connor, I Whitten, N Spence, J Shiels, L Marshall, S Danielli, T Seymour, C Gilroy, M McCrea, D McIlwaine, J Smith, A D'Arcy.
