Rugby Magners League - Leinster v Ospreys:CONTINUING THEIR end-of-season "tour" of northern Spain, Belfast and Dublin, the Ospreys drag themselves to the RDS this evening. But though their bones may be a little tired, there's clearly a spring in their step too. With only the Magners League to play for, they arrive for a top-of-the- table clash that is likely to have a strong bearing on the composition of the semi-final play-offs.

The Ospreys made good use of their bench in Tuesday night’s bonus-point, 38-27 win over Ulster, and are likely to do so again. And they have, understandably, rotated their squad, although eight of the team start again.

Ulster will note with some irony that Tommy Bowe, after his late try both secured a bonus point for the Ospreys and denied his native province one, is rested, while James Hook and Mike Phillips are kept in reserve on the bench.

For Leinster, as expected, Girvan Dempsey comes in at fullback for Rob Kearney, Fergus McFadden replaces Brian O’Driscoll and Shaun Berne takes over from Jonathan Sexton.

Up front, Cian Healy and Mike Ross are restored to the frontrow, with the injured CJ van der Linde not making the bench. Otherwise, 10 of the team that started the epic week over Clermont seven nights ago are retained in a strong selection – injuries permitting.

Leinster are unbeaten in their last dozen encounters in all competitions, since Michael Cheika rested several frontliners when the Newport Gwent Dragons beat them 30-14 in December.

The Leinster coach was handsomely vindicated the next week when Leinster went to Parc Y Scarlets and recorded the first of back-to-back, bonus-point wins in the Heineken Cup – and, indeed, since.

Retaining the Heineken Cup remains the priority, and with away games against Connacht and the Warriors before the semi-final, Leinster have clearly targeted winning their last two home games as sufficient towards securing a home semi-final.

Leinster have won their last 13 home games at the RDS in the Magners League since Munster won in September of 2008, and, just as impressively, they have won their last five games against Ospreys. The Welshmen’s only win on Leinster turf was 16-12 at Donnybrook in March 2005.

“We showed plenty of character to do what we did on Tuesday night,” said Ospreys forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys. “A three-day turnaround after losing by a point in San Sebastian on Saturday, with flights back from Spain and then out to Belfast, was always going to provide a challenge. The boys are a bit battered and bruised, but I think the response was outstanding and you could see the unity in the group, the way they dug in when it was backs against the wall.

“There’s a need to freshen up the 22 again, we feel that we have utilised the squad well over the last couple of weeks and we worked the bench well on Tuesday night, and we are going to have to do the same thing again on Friday.”

Although the 22 has been refreshed, it’s also perhaps a statement of the Ospreys’ intent that Lee Byrne, Shane Williams, Dan Biggar, Adam Jones, Jerry Collins (captain for the night) and Marty Holah all play their third game in seven days.

“I’d expect that it’s going to be a tight, close game,” added Humphreys.

“Our focus now is solely on the Magners League, so we’ll be looking to get something out of the game to help us towards a top four finish.

“We played well the other night, and we’ll be looking for a similar level of performance again. With some fresh legs in the 22, and on the back of the win at Ulster, I’m sure there’ll be a spring in our steps as we look to continue improving.”

For the Ospreys, the league has become the only prize in town, and as Leinster showed two seasons ago, it can be the springboard to bigger things. Going the next step again and achieving the double is about to become a lot more difficult to Leinster.

LEINSTER:G Dempsey; S Horgan, F McFadden, G D'Arcy, I Nacewa; S Berne, E Reddan; C Healy, J Fogarty, M Ross, L Cullen (capt), N Hines, K McLaughlin, S Jennings, J Heaslip. Replacements(from): R Strauss, S Wright, M O'Kelly, S Keogh, P O'Donohoe, E O'Malley, A Conway, Simon Keogh.

OSPREYS:L Byrne; N Walker, S Parker, A Bishop, S Williams; D Biggar, J Nutbrown; P James, E Shervington, A Jones, I Gough, A Wyn Jones, J Collins (capt), M Holah, F Tiatia. Replacements:S Baldwin, C Mitchell, I Evans, R Jones, M Phillips, J Hook, G Owen.

Referee:Peter Allan (SRU).

Betting:3/10 Leinster, 22/1 Draw, 12/5 Ospreys. Handicap:10/11 Leinster (-8pts), 22/1 Draw, 10/11 Ospreys (+8pts).

Forecast:Leinster to win.