Edinburgh will be doing well to lose by less than 20 on Saturday evening.
Richard Cockerill and his men can pin that one to the wall if they like but it should not matter a jot. Leinster, the Guinness PRO14 and Champions Cup winners, are intent on retaining both trophies this season and blowing a lot of teams out of the water along the way.
Last Saturday saw Bernard Jackman bring his Dragons side to The RDS and fight hard for 38 minutes just to cling onto Leinster’s coat-tails. A try just on half-time by Josh van der Flier punctured them badly and Leinster cut loose after the break, winning 52-10.
Up next are an Edinburgh side with one win from their opening three games, but who pushed Ulster to the bring, in Belfast, a fortnight ago. The game is live from 7:35pm on eir Sport 1.
Cockerill’s starting XV is not exactly littered with house-hold names but eight are Scotland internationals and Juan Pablo Socino has Test caps with Argentina. There is no John Barclay, Hamish Watson, Henry Pygros, Stuart McInally, Mark Bennett or WP Nel. Leinster, on the other hand, have stacked their deck.
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.
Credit: eir SportRobbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose get another week together in tandem while the returning Luke McGrath – absent from the Dragons squad – partners captain Johnny Sexton.
LEINSTER
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).
📣 TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT 📣
Here is your Connacht team to face @scarlets_rugby at The Sportsground tomorrow!
❇️ A debut for @robocopey 🙋♂️
❇️ @bundeeaki12's first start of the season 🙌
❇️ Tom Farrell back to full fitness 💪Full details ➡️ https://t.co/d7OBJCP5WI pic.twitter.com/Upq4Is3A2u
— Connacht Rugby (@connachtrugby) September 21, 2018
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.
