Leinster Team Named For HQ Clash

The Leinster team to face Bath in Saturday evening’s Heineken Cup round 4 clash at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 6pm) has been named.

There are four changes in personnel to the team that beat Bath last weekend with Eoin Reddan, fresh from winning his 50th Leinster cap at the Rec, partnering Jonathan Sexton at half-back.

Shane Jennings comes into the back row alongside fellow Ireland internationals Sean O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip, while Devin Toner partners another Ireland international, skipper Leo Cullen, in the second row.

Luke Fitzgerald continues in the back-three alongside Rob Kearney and Isa Nacewa, and Eoin O’Malley, who will make his 40th Leinster appearance on Saturday, combines in the centre with Fergus McFadden for the first time in the Heineken Cup.

Gordon D’Arcy, limited by a minor niggle in training earlier this week, will provide extra firepower from a replacements bench which includes six Ireland internationals.

With over 46,000 tickets now sold, Saturday evening’s fixture will be played in front of the second largest crowd for a pool match in the history of the Heineken Cup, surpassing the attendance figure (45,892) at Saracens v Leinster at Wembley Stadium last season.

There are tickets still available online here and from the Leinster Rugby Store (Donnybrook), Spar (Donnybrook) and Ticketmaster outlets nationwide.

A charity text campaign has been running this week where Leinster supporters are being asked to text a donation of €;2.50 to help raise essential funds for Leinster’s five chosen charities for this season – Action Breast Cancer, Barretstown, Bray Lakers, St. John Ambulance and Welcome Home.

Simply text the word LEINSTER to 57800 and as well as helping five great charities, all fans who lend their support to the campaign will be automatically entered into a draw to win an all-expenses paid trip for two (including flights, accommodation and match tickets) on the team charter to the round 5 Heineken Cup game away to Glasgow Warriors in January.

(€;2.50 per text. Network charges vary. A minimum of *€;1.20 (ex VAT) goes towards Leinster’s five chosen charities. SP Phonovation Ltd. 0818217100. Please note any donations made on the 17/12/2011will raise €;1.73 per text).

LEINSTER (v Bath): Rob Kearney; Isa Nacewa, Eoin O’Malley, Fergus McFadden, Luke Fitzgerald; Jonathan Sexton, Eoin Reddan; Heinke van der Merwe, Richardt Strauss, Mike Ross, Leo Cullen (capt), Devin Toner, Sean O’Brien, Shane Jennings, Jamie Heaslip.

Replacements: Sean Cronin, Cian Healy, Nathan White, Kevin McLaughlin, Rhys Ruddock, Isaac Boss, Ian Madigan, Gordon D’Arcy.