Te’o And Conan Back From Injury For Leinster
Ben Te’o and Jack Conan have recovered from injury to take their places in the Leinster team to take on Glasgow Warriors at the RDS on Friday (kick-off 7.45pm), as head coach Leo Cullen makes seven changes in total from the defeat to the Scarlets.
Leinster have also announced that any Ireland supporter who comes to the game on Friday and shows a Rugby World Cup ticket stub will be rewarded for backing our boys in green with a special offer €;15 ticket to the game.
In team news, also returning to the starting line-up are Ireland World Cup players Mike McCarthy and Rhys Ruddock who were late additions to the squad. Ruddock came off the bench in last Sunday’s quarter-final loss to Argentina.
For the fourth game in-a-row it is as you were in the back-three with Isa Nacewa captaining the side from full-back and Garry Ringrose on the right wing and Fergus McFadden on the left. Between them they have scored four tries and 43 points in the four GUINNESS PRO12 rounds to date.
Ben Te’o has shaken off the calf injury that kept him out of last week’s trip to Parc y Scarlets. He takes his place at outside centre, with Noel Reid continuing in the number 12 jersey.
Luke McGrath (pictured below) starts at scrum half for the third time in five games, while Cathal Marsh is outside him having won the man-of-the-match award last time out at the RDS against the Dragons.
Ireland internationals Michael Bent and Martin Moore are once again selected at loosehead and tighthead prop respectively, while Aaron Dundon comes back into the side at hooker.
McCarthy, who missed the Scarlets game due to his World Cup call-up comes back into the second row to partner UCD’s Ross Molony.
There are two changes in the back row with Ruddock resuming at blindside flanker and Jack Conan selected at number 8 having recovered from the ankle injury suffered in the warm-up before the Dragons game. Josh van der Flier completes the back row at openside.
Among the replacements, Tadhg Furlong is in line to make his first Leinster appearance of the season having played against Wales and England in the World Cup warm-up games and against Romania in the World Cup, while Isaac Boss returns following his short stint in Ireland’s World Cup camp as an injury replacement.
Leinster v Glasgow Warriors match tickets are still on sale online here. They can also be bought at the Anglesea Road ticket office from 6.15pm onwards on Friday.
LEINSTER (v Glasgow Warriors): Isa Nacewa (capt); Garry Ringrose, Ben Te’o, Noel Reid, Fergus McFadden; Cathal Marsh, Luke McGrath; Michael Bent, Aaron Dundon, Martin Moore, Ross Molony, Mike McCarthy, Rhys Ruddock, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
Replacements: James Tracy, Peter Dooley, Tadhg Furlong, Dominic Ryan, Dan Leavy, Isaac Boss, Ross Byrne, Cian Kelleher.