Leinster coach Matt Williams today had the luxury of naming a full strength side for Friday’s Celtic League quarter-final at Donnybrook.
Leinster will have to overcome Newport for the third time this season, they have already beaten the Welsh outfit home and away in this season’s European Cup, to secure a berth in the semis and with no major injury problems Williams was able to name the strongest side at his disposal.
That means, as expected, a return to provincial action for full-back Girvan Dempsey. His inclusion means there is no place, even on the bench, for stand-in Peter McKenna, despite scoring tries in both wins over Newport this year.
Denis Hickie also returns to the Leinster line-up after missing their last outing through injury.
Emmet Byrne is the only Leinster doubt but the prop has been named in the starting XV and will undergo a fitness test on a shoulder injury on Friday morning. Blackrock’s Paul Wallace is on standby should Byrne not recover in time.
Williams described the team selection as ‘relatively straightforward’ but stressed there had been close calls, particularly concerning Trevor Brennan and Bob Willis, "both of whom are playing superb rugby."
"It’s hard to justify leaving Trevor out," said Williams. "He’s playing so well at the moment and has made such a big impact coming off the bench."
Leinster, undefeated in all competitions this season, have had all players available to train for the first time in six weeks and Williams believes his side are the best prepared since Newcastle and Toulouse.
Newport, meanwhile, have a number of selection problems coming into the match with scrum-half Ofisa Tonu’u absent and lock Simon Raiwalui carrying a shoulder injury.
Raiwalui, the Newport captain, is expected to recover in time for Friday night’s kick-off but Tonu’u definitely won’t be at Donnybrook having flown home to New Zealand for personal reasons.
Dale Burn will deputise for Tonu’u on the night. Elsewhere, Ian Gough replaces Mike Voyle, Adrian Garvey comes in for Chris Anthony at tight head prop and Gareth Gravell replaces Jason Forster.
Leinster: G Dempsey; D Hickie, B O'Driscoll, S Horgan, G D'Arcy; N Spooner, B O'Meara; R Corrigan (capt), S Byrne, E Byrne, L Cullen, M O'Kelly, E Miller, V Costello, K Gleeson. Replacements: P Coyle, G Hickie, B Casey, T Brennan, B Willis, A Dunne, A Magro.
Newport: M Pini; M Mostyn, A Marinos, J Pritchard, B Breeze; S Howarth, D Burn; R Snow, J Richards, A Garvey, S Raiwalui (capt), I Gough, P Buxton, A Powell, G Gravell. Replacements: C Anthony, P Young, M Voyle, J Powell, M Watkins, J Strange, AN Other.
Referee:Steve Lander (RFU)
Previous meetings: (EC 2001-2002) - Leinster 21 Newport 6. (EC 2001-2002) - Newport 21 Leinster 26.
Match to be screened live on RTE - Kick-off 7.35 p.m.
