Shawe faces tough debut against Leicester

LEICSTER TIGERS v LEINSTER -Welford Road Kick-off – 7.30pm: INJURIES ARE an increasing hindrance to Leinster's pre-season preparations as Stan Wright joined captain Leo Cullen and flanker Kevin McLaughlin on the long-term incapacitated list.

Coach Josef Schmidt might feel like sending off a raiding party to Georgia to uncover a granite-hewn prop but for now will make do with former Ulster squad player Simon Shawe (31) who is named at tighthead against the Tigers.

Recruiting at this time of the season is a risky undertaking – most players of note are long since contracted – but Leinster have little choice.

It’s at times like these that an astute scouting network becomes invaluable and it’ll be interesting to see how the Irish province fare in that respect.

Having endured a 41-6 trimming by Wasps at Donnybrook last weekend, a youngish Leinster squad will be expected to acquit themselves a little more capably, albeit in the backyard of the English champions.

The Tigers have announced a strong team peppered with internationals.

While it would be stretching things a little to suggest the result is immaterial, it is of much less consequence than individual and unit performances in the visiting team.

Luke Fitzgerald, Isaac Boss, Richardt Strauss and Dominic Ryan were standout performers last week: the challenge for others is to reach that level.

Leinster will benefit from the return of Nathan Hines and Stephen Keogh giving them a harder edge up front but Schmidt will be looking to see which of his fringe players displays the attitude and aptitude to perform in a particularly harsh environment.

The Tigers won’t display any mercy as they use this match as a final tune-up for the beginning of their season proper. Geordan Murphy is named at fullback in a very strong side, especially behind the scrum where they have what pretty much amounts to a first choice line-up.

LEICESTER TIGERS:G Murphy; S Hamilton, O Smith, A Allen, A Tuilagi; T Flood, B Youngs; M Ayerza, G Chuter, M Castrogiovanni; C Green, G Skivington, C Newby, B Woods, O Waldrom. Replacementss: Tbc.

LEINSTER:L Fitzgerald; D Kearney, E O'Malley, F McFadden, N Morris; I McKinley, I Boss; H van der Merwe, R Strauss, S Shawe; N Hines, D Toner; D Ryan, S O'Brien (capt), S Keogh. Replacements: J Harris-Wright, J McGrath, S Maguire, E O'Donoghue, P Ryan, P O'Donohoe, I Nacewa, M Keating, M Galarza, E Sheriff, I Madigan, E Sheridan.