Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has named a much changed team for his side’s PRO14 game against the Dragons in the RDS tomorrow night.
Following last week’s 3-0 victory over Zebre in Italy Cullen has decided to switch things up to try and continue the blues winning start to the season.
There are first starts for lock Ryan Baird and young fly-half Harry Byrne who has impressed so far this season. While Conor O’Brien makes his first start of the season in the centre in place of Joe Tomane.
In the front-row Peter Dooley and Michael Bent continue to start but will have Ronan Kelleher alongside them this week, with Devin Toner captaining the side for only the second time in his 235 appearances in the second-row and has Baird beside him.
Max Deegan is at blindside-flanker, with Scott Penny yet again at openside, as Caelan Doris comes in to finish the pack at No 8.
Jamison Gibson-Park continues as the first-choice scrum-half, having Bryne as his half-back partner this week, with the duo having O’Brien and Rory O’Loughlin outside them in the midfield.
James Lowe takes up his place on the left-wing, with Dave Kearney on the right and Jimmy O’Brien completes the starting line-up from full-back.
There is a mix of experience and youth on the bench with the likes of James Tracy and Ross Malony joining possible debutant Jack Aungier among the replacements. There is also a welcome return for fly-half Ciaran Frawley who takes a spot in the dugout.
Speaking ahead of the game Cullen is hoping that his side can use their home advantage to put in another impressive performance in front of their own crowd.
“We’ve had two really good outings so far at the RDS, the players tend to feed off the energy they get from the crowd, so we’ll be hoping for something similar on Friday against Dragons,” he said.
Leinster are looking to make it five wins from five at the start of their 2019/20 PRO14 season, in what has been another impressive opening to a season. They will face a Dragons side that have claimed two wins from their opening four games but they will want to make another statement with a big win as they continue their quest to win a third title on the bounce.
Check Out the Full 23-Man Squad Below.
Starting XV:
15. Jimmy O’Brien (10)
14. Dave Kearney (138)
13. Rory O’Loughlin (65)
12. Conor O’Brien (18)
11. James Lowe (32)
10. Harry Byrne (3)
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (74)
1. Peter Dooley (65)
2. Rónan Kelleher (5)
3. Michael Bent (128)
4. Devin Toner (234) (C)
5. Ryan Baird (2)
6. Max Deegan (50)
7. Scott Penny (8)
8. Caelan Doris (20)
Replacements:
16. James Tracy (96)
17. Michael Milne (4)
18. Jack Aungier (0)
19. Ross Molony (86)
20. Will Connors (7)
21. Hugh O’Sullivan (16)
22. Ciarán Frawley (14)
23. Cian Kelleher (8)
