Leinster will be without some of their biggest guns when they go head to head with Glasgow Warriors for a place in the Rabo12 final tomorrow night.
With a far more significant encounter at Twickenham just over a week away, Joe Schmidt has opted to preserve Brian O’Driscoll and Rob Kearney – who are suffering from niggling knee and back problems respectively – and Leo Cullen, who will be warming the pine on the replacements bench.
Still, Leinster didn’t get to where they are without a vast pool of resources in their squad and as a result, they have still named a very strong line-up.
Fergus McFadden and Eoin O’Malley will deputise for Kearney and O’Driscoll, Jonathan Sexton and Eoin Reddan form the half-back partnership, while Cian Healy, Brad Thorn, Sean O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip all feature in a powerful-looking front eight.
The winners of this one will face whoever comes out on top in the meeting between Ospreys and Munster this evening at Liberty Stadium.
Leinster’s clash with Glasgow kicks-off at the RDS on Saturday evening at 7.35pm.
Leinster team to play Glasgow Warriors: Isa Nacewa; Fergus McFadden, Eoin O’Malley, Gordon D’Arcy, David Kearney; Jonathan Sexton, Eoin Reddan; Cian Healy, Richardt Strauss, Mike Ross; Brad Thorn, Devin Toner; Sean O’Brien, Shane Jennings, Jamie Heaslip (Captain).
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Heinke van der Merwe, Nathan White, Leo Cullen, Kevin McLaughlin, Isaac Boss, Ian Madigan, Andrew Conway.
