RUGBY:LEINSTER'S YOUNG guns, who fell just a little short last week, ought to once again entertain a big home crowd (14,000 tickets have been sold already) at the RDS tonight. There are a lot of Magners League teams out there envious of Leinster's pulling power.
Stan Wright is named in the front row for the first time this season, having made his comeback as a second-half replacement last week in Cardiff. David Kearney also returns for the visit of Treviso, while Isa Nacewa captains the team from fullback for the first time.
Wright comes in alongside Richardt Strauss and Heinke van der Merwe, with Irish-capped Kevin McLaughlin in the back-row alongside Dominic Ryan and Stephen Keogh. Rhys Ruddock is rotated this week and among the seven replacements, who have all come through the Leinster Academy.
One player who doesn’t start is centre and now international winger, Fergus McFadden, who Leinster coach Joe Schmidt doubtlessly would have picked had he been available for the province.
McFadden missed out to the healthy Tommy Bowe in Declan Kidney’s selection for Ireland’s game against Scotland on Sunday but he is unavailable for Leinster too. McFadden and backrow Rhys Ruddock will be travelling to Scotland as Ireland’s 23rd and 24th men. Ruddock, however, has been given permission from the Irish management to play tonight and will travel to Edinburgh to join up with the Irish squad after the match.
Leinster are fully aware of the threat posed by Treviso. In September they claimed the Leinster scalp at home, winning 29-13, which from the Italian viewpoint was a huge win given Leinster’s status as Magners league finalists from last season.
Tries from Luke McLean and Brendan Williams, combined with points from the boots of Tobias Botes and Kristopher Burton, made it a night to remember for Treviso. However none of those three are in tonight’s team.
Leinster are currently fourth in the e league table and still within the play-off positions while Treviso are in eighth place. While there is a frenetic quality about this Leinster side, they maintained their composure to come from behind and defeat Aironi in the RDS a couple of weeks ago. They still possess scoring ability in spades and that’s what makes them dangerous.
Kearney ran in two tries not so long ago, while Andrew Conway is always game to have a go given any sort of space, as will outside centre Eoin O’Malley. Leinster may struggle in patches during the match but they should have enough creativity and vim to weather the tough periods and emerge with the points.
Tickets will be on sale at the ground on the night.
LEINSTER: I Nacewa (capt); A Conway, E O’Malley, E Sheridan, D Kearney; I McKinley, I Boss; H van der Merwe, R Strauss, S Wright; E O’Donoghue, D Toner; K McLaughlin, D Ryan, S Keogh. Replacements: J Harris Wright, J McGrath, C Newland, R Ruddock, P Ryan, P O’Donohoe, I Madigan, N Morris.
BENETTON TREVISO: J Maddock; M Sepe, E Galon, A Vilk, B De Jager; W De Waal, L Nitoglia; M Rizzo, E Ceccato, I Fernandez Rouyet; A Pavanello (capt), C van Zyl; B Vermaak, G Padro, M Filipucci. Replacements: F Sbaraglini, M Muccignat, P Di Santo, E Pavanello, M Sutto, A Pratichetti, A Marcato, S Simon Picone.
Referee: N Hennessy (WRU)
