O'Driscoll to make first start of season

BRIAN O’DRISCOLL and several Ireland team-mates will make their first start of the season for Leinster away to Treviso at the Stadio di Monigo this Saturday evening.

“All the Ireland internationals, bar Seán O’Brien , are available but that doesn’t mean all of them will play,” said assistant coach Richie Murphy yesterday.

“It’s a case of trying to find the balance to what we had on the pitch in the last number of weeks and the lads coming back in. Over the next one to two weeks you should see most of the internationals back.

“It is a balancing act anyway as they can’t all play the next eight matches so it is about getting the mix right for our team and for the individual. The chances are really good that Brian will be back playing,” Murphy added.

Gordon D’Arcy and Fergus McFadden are also pressing for inclusion in midfield where Brendan Macken and Noel Reid impressed against the Dragons last Saturday. Jordan Coghlan, Ben Marshall, Luke McGrath and Quinn Roux all made their competitive debuts for Leinster in the 45-25 victory.

Injuries suffered by Andrew Conway (stitches above right eye) and Leo Auva’a (knee) are also expected to clear up.

The Branch also confirmed yesterday that almost 27,500 tickets have already been sold for the Munster game at the Aviva Stadium on October 6th. This is the annual derby meeting between the sides, which acts as a warm-up for the opening Heineken Cup round the following weekend.

Leinster are home to the Exeter Chiefs, captained by John Hayes’ brother Tom, on October 13th while Munster travel to Paris to face Racing Métro 92.