URC: Leinster v Edinburgh, RDS, Saturday, 3.05 – Live on RTÉ 2 and Premier Sports 2
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has resisted the temptation to bring back some of his Ireland internationals and instead largely kept faith with the matchday 23 that beat the Sharks at the Dublin venue last weekend for Saturday’s meeting with Edinburgh.
There is just one change to the starting line-up in the return of academy prospect James Culhane, the 2022 Under-20 Six Nations player of the tournament. He was in the run-on team in the opening match in Glasgow but didn’t play against the Sharks. Last week’s centurion Max Deegan shifts from number eight to blindside flanker to accommodate Culhane, with Rhys Ruddock dropping to the bench.
Several of Leinster’s international brigade were back in training this week and the remainder, barring one or two who are rehabilitating niggling injury issues, will return to the provincial fold next week, so for many of the young and the fringe players the first three URC fixtures were an opportunity to showcase their credentials.
Cormac Foley, Tommy O’Brien, Jack Boyle, Lee Barron and Deegan have all stood out, so too Jamie Osborne, now happily restored to full fitness after injury. The Naas man expressed a mild preference for centre but can play right across the backline. He’s no problem with learning the detail across several positions.
“The different roles, you learn them over time, there might be a few different plays we have for a week, and you might have to learn a few new things each week but overall, I think it’s fairly easy.
“A lot of us do it in training [where] there is a lot of interchanging. They [team-mates] know what you’re looking at, what space you’re trying to get to and that sort of stuff. It helps with the cohesion of the backline.”
Edinburgh welcome back Scottish internationals Pierre Schoeman and Duhan van der Merwe, and as Glasgow did when they beat Leinster will forensically examine the Irish province’s scrum, breakdown and defence in what promises to be a keenly fought encounter.
LEINSTER: C Frawley; T O’Brien, J Osborne, C Ngatai, J Larmour; H Byrne, C Foley; J Boyle, L Barron, M Ala’alatoa; R Molony, J Jenkins; M Deegan, S Penny (capt), J Culhane.
Replacements: D Donnellan, P McCarthy, R McGuire, B Deeny, R Ruddock, B Murphy, S Prendergast, R Russell.
EDINBURGH: B Kinghorn; W Goosen, M Bennett, M Currie, D van der Merwe; B Healy, C Shiel; P Schoeman, D Cherry, WP Nel; G Young, G Gilchrist (capt); T Dodd, H Watson, L Crosbie.
Replacements: E Ashman, B Venter, J Sebastian, M Sykes, C Boyle, H Patterson, J Lang, C Dean.
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa).
