Ultan Dillane ruled out as Pat Lam names Connacht team

Academy centre Peter Robb has been handed his first Pro12 start for Connacht's sold-out Pro12 meeting with Leinster at the Sportsground on Saturday.

Connacht head coach Pat Lam has made two changes from the starting XV that lined out for the win over Edinburgh three weeks ago - with Ultan Dillane not yet recovered from a minor shoulder knock picked up during the Six Nations campaign.

Fellow internationals Robbie Henshaw – who only joined team training on Thursday – and Finlay Bealham are both named amongst the replacements. Frontrower Bealham who has featured in every Connacht game this season, is in line to make his 50th appearance.

The 21-year-old Robb made his Connacht debut in November in the Challenge Cup game away to Russian side Enisei-STM and Saturday will mark his 10th appearance in a Connacht jersey.

The other change sees Niyi Adeolokun return to the right wing after missing the Edinburgh game through injury.

Commenting on the team selection and the upcoming game, head coach Pat Lam said:

“I have a lot of respect for who Leinster are and what they have achieved. There is a lot of quality right across the squad and I believe Leo (Cullen), in his first season as head coach, has done a tremendous job. Tomorrow, we are expecting a pretty physical and fired up opposition. As a team who have history of winning at this stage of the season, it’s going to take a massive collective effort from us to come out on top.

“There’s certainly a huge buzz around this game tomorrow and we’re all really looking forward to it – it doesn’t get much better than playing in front of a sold-out Sportsground. Staying focussed and chanelling that excitement and energy into our structures and systems will give us the best chance of getting the points on offer.”

CONNACHT: Tiernan O'Halloran; Niyi Adeolokun, Bundee Aki, Peter Robb, Matt Healy; AJ MacGinty, Kieran Marmion; Denis Buckley, Tom McCartney, Nathan White; Quinn Roux, Aly Muldowney; Sean O'Brien, Jake Heenan, John Muldoon (captain).

Replacements: Dave Heffernan, Ronan Loughney, Finlay Bealham, Andrew Browne, Eoin McKeon, Caolin Blade, Shane O’Leary, Robbie Henshaw.