Connacht announce unchanged team, Leinster announce 26-man squad

It’s ‘same again’ for Connacht while Leinster are awaiting the results of a couple of fitness tests and have announced a 26-man squad for this evening’s Celtic League fixture at Donnybrook (7.30).

For Connacht, this means Paul Warwick passed, but John O’Sullivan failed, a fitness test before the team was finalised. If it ain’t broke … appears to be Michael Bradley’s thinking. But the domestic bragging rights will also have him thinking ‘Leinster in Donnybrook? Stuff squad rotation!’

This includes a couple of interesting calls. For instance, Chris Keane has held the scrumhalf spot over the highly-regarded Conor O’Loughlin. And the young props Ray Hogan and Stephen Knoop are also holding their own against Peter Bracken and Adrian Clarke. The bottom line is that there is more depth to this Connacht squad.

Leinster are awaiting fitness tests on several players apparently and will name their side closer to the game. They include, in the squad of 26, three players vying to play against their former colleagues in Des Dillon, James Norton and Dave Hewitt. And another interesting inclusion is Jamie Heaslip, the Irish Under-21 player who is nominated in the IRB Under 21 Player of the Year Awards.

The squad also includes five possible outhalves – Dave McAllister, David Holwell, Brian O’Meara, Christian Warner and Felipe Contepomi. We’re not even going to guess what Declan Kidney does, but don’t be surprised if he rests David Holwell after a couple of big tackling weeks.

Connacht: Mark McHugh, Matt Mostyn, Darren Yapp, James Downey, Conor McPhillips, Paul Warwick, Chris Keane; Ray Hogan, Bernard Jackman, Stephen Knoop, Andrew Farley, Christian Short, Michael Swift, Matt Lacey, John Muldoon.

Replacements: John Fogarty, Dan McFarland, Michael Carroll, Paul Neville, Conor O’Loughlin, Eric Elwood, Ted Robinson.

Leinster:

Forwards from:
Gavin Hickie, David Blaney, Ricky Nebbett, Peter Coyle, Emmett Byrne, John Lyne, Leo Cullen, Ben Gissing, Aidan McCullen, Jamie Heaslip, Shane Jennings, Niall Ronan, Ciaran Potts, Des Dillon
Backs from:
Guy Easterby, Brian O’Riordan, Brian O’Meara, David McAllister, David Holwell, Felipe Contepomi, Christian Warner, David Hewitt, Kieran Lewis, John McWeeney, Gary Brown, James Norton