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21st September 2018
02:16pm BST

13 of Leinster's starting 15 are Ireland internationals with James Lowe on the left wing and former U20 Player of the Year Max Deggan at blindside. For good measure, the bench has Sean Cronin, Tadhg Furlong, Ross Byrne, Joe Tomane and Dan Leavy, who is set for his first game of the season.
The big takeaway from Leinster's squad announcement is the sheer strength of their backline. It is arguably their strongest possible, with only Tomane, Rob Kearney and Adam Byrne entitled to get the hump over that claim.
Kearney, who had a fantastic season last time out, played all 80 of the Dragons annihilation and he drops out of the matchday 23 completely. There has been no talk of injuries so we presume he is being spared for the upcoming interpros against Connacht and Munster.
Jordan Larmour gets another chance in the No.15 jersey while Lowe and Fergus McFadden are on the wings. The 21-year-old scored a fine try last weekend and beat 11 Dragons defender with ball-in-hand.
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Credit: eir Sport[/caption]
Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose get another week together in tandem while the returning Luke McGrath - absent from the Dragons squad - partners captain Johnny Sexton.
Jordan Larmour (24) Fergus McFadden (171) Garry Ringrose (51) Robbie Henshaw (26) James Lowe (14) Johnny Sexton (149) CAPTAIN Luke McGrath (97) Cian Healy (192) James Tracy (68) Michael Bent (107) Devin Toner (219) James Ryan (16) Max Deegan (24) Josh van der Flier (61) Jack Conan (76)REPLACEMENTS: Seán Cronin (155), Peter Dooley (50), Tadhg Furlong (86), Mick Kearney (37), Dan Leavy (54), Jamison Gibson-Park (54), Ross Byrne (51), Joe Tomane (3). https://twitter.com/connachtrugby/status/1043092208092672001 The headline selection for Connacht, ahead of Saturday evening's clash with Scarlets, is Bundee Aki getting his first start of the season at inside centre. Finlay Bealham, Quinn Roux, Kieran Marmion, Matt Healy and Tiernan O'Halloran are the other Ireland internationals in Connacht's starting XV.
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