Leinster eye clean sweep of victories in Champions Cup pool stages against ‘confrontational’ Leicester

Champions Cup Pool 4: Leicester v Leinster, Welford Road, Saturday, 3.15 – Live on TNT Sports

Leinster’s quest for home advantage deep into the playoffs is predicated on making it a clean sweep of victories at the pool stage, complete with a four-try bonus point to simplify any mathematical permutations.

The Irish province has already qualified for the round of 16, while Leicester Tigers require a point from this match to do likewise. Leinster, despite their winning run in the Champions Cup, are still looking to iron out performance wrinkles, and they’ll need to be better for longer at Welford Road on Saturday afternoon, in what will be a hugely physical encounter before a 25,000 crowd.

It’s impossible to ignore the carousel effect at outhalf, despite entreaties, one that spins at a dizzying rate. At this point the 10 jersey at Leinster might require an exorcism as it seems to be haunted or cursed by a malevolent spirit.

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen explained the latest toing and froing: “Ciarán [Frawley] was in the team at one point and now he’s not. Harry [Byrne] has actually come through better than expected. Ciarán has not come through as well as expected so Harry is now going to start, and Sam [Prendergast] now stays on the bench.

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“At the start of the week we thought Ciarán would be okay, and we weren’t sure on Harry because he was going to train later in the week, so it’s been a role-reversal, really. Harry is good to go so hopefully he will be there at 3:15pm on Saturday, kicking the ball off or receiving the first kick-off, whichever.”

Frawley started the victory over Stade Francais but failed to emerge unscathed, taking a hefty blow to his face in charging down a kick, before being invalided out of the match after suffering a rib injury, replaced by Prendergast. Byrne had rolled his ankle in training and was ruled out ahead of the game.

The other change to the starting team heralds the return of co-captain James Ryan. He replaces Jason Jenkins, who drops out of the matchday 23, with Ross Molony named among the replacements.

Cullen, once a Leicester Tiger as a player, recalled: “I have so much respect for them personally having been a part of that once up a time, a very long time again now. But still it’s such a very fond period of my own life, the couple of years that I spent over there. So [it’ll be] a great atmosphere there. It’s a different type of rugby and they’ll be very, very confrontational in what they do.

“You guys see some of those stats’ handouts that EPCR send out, so it’s either the team that kicks the most or passes the least [whichever way you want to look at it], that’s the game that we will be getting ready for, it’s confrontational rugby and that’s the DNA [of the way they play].”

Leicester head coach Dan McKellar, reputed to be on the shortlist for the Australian position to which Joe Schmidt was appointed, is without promising young England internationals, secondrow George Martin and scrumhalf Jack van Poortvliet, and Lions and England duo, wing Anthony Watson and tighthead prop Dan Cole.

[ Joe Schmidt confirmed as new head coach of Australia on two-year deal ]

Former London Irish wing Ollie Hassell-Collins and flanker Hanro Liebenberg return after injury, Tom Whiteley gets the nod at scrumhalf, while the team will be led by Argentinian hooker Julian Montoya. Tommy Reffell, a brother of Ulster’s Sean, and Springbok World Cup winner Jasper Wiese, provide a lethal poaching threat at the breakdown.

La Rochelle declawed the Tigers in ruthless fashion last week but with a few players returning and on home soil, the English club ought to be more formidable opposition. Leinster’s set piece will have to be on point, their breakdown work clean, the attack sharp and precise and the defence aggressively physical and co-ordinated. Anything less may not suffice.

LEICESTER: F Steward; H Simmons, M Scott, D Kelly, O Hassell-Collins; H Pollard, T Whiteley; J Cronin, J Montoya (capt), J Heyes; H Wells, O Chessum; H Liebenberg, T Reffell, J Wiese.

Replacements: A Vanes, F van Wyk, W Hurd, S Carter, K Hatherell, B Youngs, J Shillcock, S Kata.

LEINSTER: H Keenan; J Larmour, G Ringrose, R Henshaw, J Lowe; H Byrne, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, D Sheehan, T Furlong; J McCarthy, J Ryan; R Baird, J van der Flier, C Doris.

Replacements: R Kelleher, C Healy, M Ala’alatoa, R Molony, J Conan, L McGrath, S Prendergast, T O’Brien.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy).

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