Leinster coach Michael Cheika must plan without most of his Irish internationals for Friday’s Celtic League clash with the Borders although Reggie Corrigan, Jamie Heaslip, Guy Easterby, Rob Kearney and Denis Hickie have been released by the Irish management team.
Cheika named a 26-man squad for the game at Donnybrook and it includes youngsters Devin Toner and Jonathan Sexton while the fit-again Ciaran Potts and Brian O’Meara are selected following injury.
"The two guys (Sexton and Toner) have both done well and deserves their chance," Cheika said. "The likes of Stephen Grissing, Kevin McLaughlin and Ross McCarron have also been training with the squad this week."
"Our focus is very much on preparing for what is a very important Celtic League game. The last time that we played in a similar scenario (before the November internationals), pardon my French, but we got our asses kicked so we want to learn from our mistakes.
"Our first priority is the Celtic League. We are able to differentiate between the two tournaments, but the Celtic League is our bread and butter. We can’t expect to do well in one tournament without doing well in the other.
Forwards: Reggie Corrigan, Ronan McCormack, Brian Blaney, David Blaney, Will Green, Bryce Williams, Adam Byrnes, Ben Gissing, Devin Toner, Eric Miller, Ciaran Potts, Niall Ronan, Keith Gleeson, Jamie Heaslip,
Backs: Guy Easterby, Brian O'Riordan, Brian O'Meara, Felipe Contepomi, Jonathan Sexton, Eoghan Hickey, Gary Brown, John Hepworth, Kieran Lewis, Brendan Burke, Rob Kearney, Denis Hickie.
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