Coveted Leinster places up for grabs

RUGBY: Leinster v Warriors:IT'S NOT the time for taking stock, on the premise that a glint of silverware promises an eye catching finale but for Old Belvedere club-mates and Leinster's occasional midfield axis, Fergus McFadden and Eoin O'Malley, it's been a memorable season.

McFadden demonstrated the aptitude and talent to play at test level and tonight will look to mark the milestone of his 50th cap for Leinster with a victory that propels the province to a home semi-final draw in the Magners League. He may start on the wing tonight but there’s little doubt he’ll be at the centre of the action.

O’Malley is in a more orthodox role of midfield, alongside Gordon D’Arcy, and although his achievements are less prosaic to date, he’s fulfilling his potential, now that he’s happily free from injury concerns. Tonight he’ll don the Leinster jersey for a 20th time this season; he hopes that it won’t be the last on a personal level.

“It is a year I’ve really enjoyed. I had a tricky run with injuries for a little while but since then I have really enjoyed it and it is a great place to be – obviously there are not too many clubs in Europe at the moment still looking to win two trophies. I don’t think I can have any regrets; obviously just being part of something like that is pretty special.”

His immediate focus is to ensure that Leinster return to the RDS next weekend for a semi-final, aware that his experiences against Glasgow haven’t been the kind he’d like to rekindle. “I’ve had a couple of bad experiences against them so I’m looking forward to this week.

“It’s a bit of a dangerous one (match) as they don’t have a whole lot to lose. They can come here and throw the ball around. They still have a lot of talented guys and they’ve had a lot close games. There’s always a bit of a danger and you don’t want to get too complacent going into it.

“Obviously I’m hungry for a game at the moment. Looking at the lads having a massive performance against Toulouse and things like that, when you’re not involved it is a huge motivation for you and obviously (there’s) the pressure of just continuing that good work and adding to the team on the bigger side of things.

There is (potentially) a semi-final and final there, obviously it is a big motivation to the guys who have contributed throughout the year and everyone feels part of it, people added to it along the way. I think that is why it is such a tight squad at the moment and why we have done well at times of the year when we’re missing people for Six Nations and things.”

Leinster coach Joe Schmidt has freshened the team from last week’s bruising encounter with Toulouse and in doing so offered a host of players the opportunity to compete for coveted places over the next few weeks. Ian Madigan gets a chance at outhalf, Jack McGrath named at loosehead, Kevin McLaughlin nudged into the secondrow and Dominic Ryan restored to the backrow. The bench is long on experience up front and youthful endeavour along the replacement backs. Then there is Rhys Ruddock, a player of tremendous talent.

Glasgow coach Sean Lineen has named 18-year-old centre Mark Bennett in place of the injured Max Evans, Peter Murchie moves to fullback with Bernardo Stortoni dropping out of the squad. Up front there is no Richie Gray while Ryan Grant and Fergus Thomson are preferred to Kevin Tkachuk and Dougie Hall in the front row.

Lineen understands the magnitude of tonight’s task: “It’s a massive challenge, but one which we are looking forward to. I think they are the form team in Europe, they are certainly very consistent, they have a very strong squad and they play a brand of rugby that everyone wants to aspire to.”

LEINSTER: I Nacewa; S Horgan, E O'Malley, G D'Arcy, F McFadden; I Madigan, I Boss; J McGrath, R Strauss, S Wright; D Toner, K McLaughlin; D Ryan, S Jennings, J Heaslip (capt). Replacements: A Dundon, C Healy, M Ross, N Hines, R Ruddock, P O'Donohue, I McKinley, D Kearney.

GLASGOW WARRIORS: P Murchie; F Aramburu, M Bennett, G Morrison (capt), DTH van der Merwe; D Weir, C Cusiter; R Grant, F Thomson, M Low; A Muldowney, T Ryder; J Eddie, R Vernon, J Beattie. Replacements: D Hall, J Welsh, K Tkachuk, R Harley, C Fusaro, C Gregor, R Jackson, P Horne.

Referee: James Jones (Wales).

Leading points scorers:Leinster – I Nacewa 142. Warriors – Duncan Weir 113.

Leading try scorers: Leinster – Shane Horgan 7. Glasgow – DTH van der Merwe 9.

Verdict: Leinster to win.