Leinster will face the Scarlets in this Saturday’s PRO14 final in Dublin and head coach Leo Cullen should make a number of changes from the side that defeated Munster in last weekend’s semi-final at the RDS.
Fly-half Johnny Sexton is expected to return to training this week after picking up a calf injury at training late last week while flanker Dan Leavy missed the game against Munster with a tight hamstring and will be further assessed this week.
Both players should walk back into the side that defeated Munster if they are fit while Cian Healy, Rob Kearney and Scott Fardy should all return to replace Jack McGrath, Joey Carbery and Rhys Ruddock in the starting side.
If Leavy can’t return for Leinster’s season finale then Jordi Murphy would likely take his place at openside flanker, while even if Leavy does start, Murphy could stil get the nod over Conan at the back of the scrum in what would be his final game for the club.
Meanwhile Ross Byrne will likely start at fly-half in the event that Sexton is declared unfit to play.
Expected Leinster team to play Scarlets (changes in bold)
15 Rob Kearney
14 Jordan Larmour
13 Garry Ringrose
12 Isa Nacewa
11 James Lowe
10 Johnny Sexton
9 Luke McGrath
1 Cian Healy
2 Sean Cronin
3 Tadhg Furlong
4 Devin Toner
5 James Ryan
6 Scott Fardy
7 Dan Leavy
8 Jordi Murphy
Subs
16 James Tracy
17 Jack McGrath
18 Andrew Porter
19 Rhys Ruddock
20 Jack Conan
21 Jamison Gibson-Park
22 Joey Carbery
23 Barry Daly
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen predicted that this week would be easier for the province in terms of preparation than last week’s semi-final win over Munster where Leinster returned to training just days after their Champions Cup triumph over Racing in Bilbao.
“I think we have a better chance going into the final than we did this week – it was a tough challenge,” Cullen said.
“Leinster haven’t a great record the week after – and I obviously remember 2011 and 2012 – it is tough to do. Credit to the guys. I can’t say enough about the character they’ve shown.
“Scarlets will be another huge test. The crowd is like the occasion – it’s unbelievable. Hopefully we’ll get the same level of support in the Aviva next week because the players are loving it at the moment with the support we get.
“Scarlets obviously turned us over here in the semi-final and watching their game last night was like an action replay of that game. They are very hard to break down when they have a lead.
“Both teams know each other well at this stage having played each other three times over the course of the season. I’d imagine both teams are banged up, so it will be about which team holds their nerve on the day.”
For the Scarlets they will be without injured captain John Barclay who severed his Achilles in the club’s semi-final win over Glasgow while head coach Wayne Pivac is hoping that Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny will come through a fitness test on Thursday to put him in the running for a return.
