Joe Tomane to make debut as Leinster name team for pre-season opener

Wallaby international Joe Tomane will make his Leinster debut on Friday when the European champions kick-off their pre-season against Montauban in the south of France.

Tomane signed for the province in June and will line up at inside centre for his first start with Rory O'Loughlin set to partner him in the Leinster midfield. Newly appointed vice-captain Rhys Ruddock will lead the side from openside flanker with Josh Murphy and Max Deegan joining him in the backrow while in the backs James Lowe will be trialed at full-back with Barry Daly and Adam Byrne filling out the wings in an exciting back three. Leinster coach Leo Cullen said that he will be bringing 28 players to France and that the Montauban game will be a good chance for those selected to put down an early marker ahead of a title defending campaign.

“The majority of the group that are playing this weekend came back in the middle of June," Cullen told the club's YouTube channel. "They did a three-week block at that stage, had another break and came back, so they’ve done a fair amount. It’ll be nice to put into practice some of the things we’ve worked on over the course of pre-season. “We have 28 players that are going to travel to France. It’s a good opportunity for these lads to put their hand up nice and early in the season.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBsUXrgIkfw Leinster Rugby team to play Montauban 15. James Lowe 14. Adam Byrne 13. Rory O’Loughlin 12. Joe Tomane 11. Barry Daly 10. Noel Reid 9. Nick McCarthy 1. Peter Dooley 2. Bryan Byrne 3. Michael Bent 4. Ross Molony 5. Ian Nagle 6. Josh Murphy 7. Rhys Ruddock CAPTAIN 8. Max Deegan 16. James Tracy 17. Ed Byrne 18. Vakh Abdaladze 19. Mick Kearney 20. Will Connors 21. Jamison Gibson-Park 22. Jimmy O’Brien 23. Dave Kearney 24. Oisín Dowling 25. Conor O’Brien 26. Tom Daly 27. Jack Kelly 28. Gavin Mullin