Leinster will play Munster this weekend in a PRO14 semi-final at the RDS and there’s some selection dilemmas for both sides.
Leinster centre Robbie Henshaw has been ruled out of the match with a knee injury while fly-half Johnny Sexton and winger Isa Nacewa have both been listed as major doubts for the match.
Meanwhile for Munster winger Andrew Conway is following the return to play protocols after he sustained a concussion in the win over Edinburgh while flanker Chris Cloete is progressing well with his rehabilitation from a fractured forearm and is expected to return to training this week under the supervision of the medical staff.
There could be some potentially big losses on both sides which could have a dramatic effect on how head coaches Leo Cullen and Johann van Graan select their sides.
Nacewa filled in at inside centre for Leinster during Henshaw’s injury absence earlier this season and if the New Zealander is in doubt for Saturday’s tie Noel Reid could be drafted into replace the Ireland and Lions centre.
[Eoin O’Malley and James Downey discuss Leinster’s possible selections from the 29:00 mark on the latest episode of The Hard Yards].
Former Leinster centre Eoin O’Malley and Munster centre James Downey both predicted that Leinster will make changes this weekend but that a lot of their alterations will depend on the physical condition of their players in the wake of their win over Racing.
“I think they’ll make a couple of changes without going nuts,” said O’Malley.
“There’s probably a few lads that pulled up with a lot of bangs after that game as well so I suppose we’ll see how that goes.
“Even [Jamison] Gibson-Park was brilliant against the Scarlets and was pretty unlucky to miss out the way he did. Obviously James Lowe maybe comes back in now but you just don’t know how lads pulled up and how they arrived at training today.”
Downey also predicted that Leinster will make a couple of changes and that Munster’s season is very much riding on this game.
“This is obviously Munster’s season here,” said Downey.
“It’s going to be an easy week for the Leinster boys physically. They’ll rest up and they’ll just walk through some plays. There won’t be any bag work or any contact or anything like that.
“Munster will have had one eye on this for the last couple of weeks now. This has been their focus and they nearly have to hope to keep going on the crest of this wave a little bit.
“I agree with Eoin. I think a couple of changes should be made for Leinster but Munster certainly should have one eye all over this. This is their final.”
Here we take a look at how both sides could line up at full strength with their predicted alternatives named in brackets ([]) should they be sidelined this weekend.
Leinster predicted team:
15. Rob Kearney
14. Jordan Larmour
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Isa Nacewa (captain) [if ruled out – Noel Reid]
11. James Lowe
10. Johnny Sexton [if ruled out – Joey Carbery]
9. Luke McGrath
1. Cian Healy
2. Seán Cronin
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Devin Toner
5. James Ryan
6. Scott Fardy
7. Dan Leavy
8. Jordi Murphy
Replacements:
16. James Tracy
17. Jack McGrath
18. Andrew Porter
19. Rhys Ruddock
20. Jack Conan
21. Jamison Gibson-Park
22. Joey Carbery [if Carbery starts – Ross Byrne]
23. Rory O’Loughlin
Munster predicted team:
15. Simon Zebo
14. Andrew Conway [if ruled out – Darren Sweetnam]
13. Sammy Arnold
12. Rory Scannell
11. Keith Earls
10. JJ Hanrahan
9. Conor Murray
1. James Cronin
2. Rhys Marshall
3. Ciaran Parker
4. Jean Kleyn
5. Billy Holland
6. Peter O’Mahony (Capt.)
7. Jack O’Donoghue
8. CJ Stander
Replacements:
16. Mike Sherry
17. Dave Kilcoyne
18. Brian Scott
19. Gerbrandt Grobler
20. Robin Copeland [Chris Cloete if fit]
21. James Hart
22. Ian Keatley
23. Alex Wootton
