Johnny Sexton ready for second era at Leinster

Benetton Treviso v Leinster

Sunday, November 1,

Stadio di Monigo,

3.0 Sky Sports 3

Leo Cullen has wasted no time in injecting Irish internationals back into action. Most importantly, Johnny Sexton will resume his hometown career for the first time since the 2013 Pro12 Grand Final against Ulster.

The outhalf is expected to take hold of the back division in what could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship with assistant coach Girvan Dempsey.

Offloads

It must be noted how the furore and fallout from Ireland’s style of play at the World Cup came well after Cullen and Dempsey had shown their commitment to expansive rugby where offloads have been deemed a risk worth taking.

There is also a case to be made for the retention of Isa Nacewa or promotion of Rob Kearney as captain, should Jamie Heaslip succeed Paul O'Connell as Ireland captain.

Leinster have a respectable 14 points from five games and lie in sixth place and they will seek to move up a gear or two at a venue where they have usually struggled.

For instance, they came away from Treviso with a 24-24 draw last season; a one-point (21-20) victory the year before. They will take nothing for granted.

Moreover, it will be interesting to note how Leinster approach this one. The bulk of the second-string squad that dominated the first block of five matches were well versed in Dempsey’s strategies through the last two seasons of the British & Irish Cup.

The Ireland internationals have had little or no time to make what is a seismic shift away from the power-based, direct running of the Matt O’Connor era.

TREVISO: J Hayward; L Nitoglia, A Pratichetti, S Christie, S Ragusi; L McLean, E Gori; M Zanusso, D Giazzon, R Harden, M Fuser, T Paulo, F Minto a Zanni (capt), A Steyn. Replacements: L Bigi, A De Marchi, S Ferrari, J Montauriol, R Barbieri, C Smylie, J Ambrosini, T Iannone.

LEINSTER: I Nacewa (capt); F McFadden, B Te'o, L Fitzgerald, D Kearney; J Sexton, E Reddan; J McGrath, S Cronin, T Furlong, H Triggs, M McCarthy, R Ruddock, J Murphy, J Conan. Replacement: R Strauss, C Healy, M Moore, D Toner, J van der Flier, L McGrath, C Marsh, N Reid.

Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU).