Leinster left with no room for error

Cian Healy

remains a doubt due to shoulder damage but Matt O’Connor has intimated a similar team to the one that lost narrowly in Marseille on

Sunday will be employed against Ulster in Belfast on tomorrow.

Tadhg Furlong is expected to be named on the bench instead of Marty Moore, who requires shoulder surgery, while Michael Bent is on standby to replace Healy with Jack McGrath promoted to the number-one jersey.

Dave Kearney is also expected back into the match-day squad with Zane Kirchner moving to right wing as Fergus McFadden's season was ended by a broken thumb. Gordon D'Arcy remains an option at inside centre but Ian Madigan's place-kicking should keep the veteran benched.

Damp conditions

The damp conditions against Toulon last weekend might actually prove of benefit for Leinster’s gameplan.

"You can't afford to have that much tactical stuff because you don't have the time," said Rob Kearney this week. "We'll have one pitch session. We didn't use a huge amount of our gameplan against Toulon. Ulster are a similar-ish team. Some of the basis for the gameplan we wanted to play last week will be applicable again this week."

Leinster need to win their last three matches and hope either Ulster lose their games against Munster and Glasgow or the Ospreys lose to Cardiff on Saturday and in one of their remaining matches at home to Glasgow or in Galway.

“A win this week and then hope that (Ulster) slip up another week, it’s all we can hope for now,” Kearney added. “If we lose, we’re out. Even a little bit more than last week, this is a big character test for us.”

Ulster are without Nick Williams (banned) and Stuart Olding while Darren Cave is nursing a hamstring strain.