Leinster, the defending GUINNESS PRO14 champions and current Conference B leaders, host their annual October derby clash with Munster who come locked and loaded as they chase their first win at the Aviva Stadium in four years.
GUINNESS PRO14: Saturday, October 6
LEINSTER (1st, Con B) v MUNSTER (3rd, Con A), Aviva Stadium, 6pm (live eir Sport 1/Premier Sports/RTÉ Radio 1deferred TG4)
Team News: It will be a memorable day for Louth man Rob Kearney as he makes his 200th appearance for Leinster. The Ireland and Lions full-back made his debut for his home province in September 2005 away to the Ospreys, scoring a try in a 22-20 loss.
Since then the four-time Six Nations winner has become one of the most decorated players in Irish Rugby with 199 Leinster caps, 86 Ireland caps and eight caps for the British & Irish Lions.
It could also be a very special occasion for Luke McGrath who has been named among the replacements and is due to win cap 100 if introduced. McGrath made his debut in May 2012 off the bench against the Dragons and the UCD clubman has also represented Ireland on six occasions.
There are 11 personnel changes to the side that saw off Connacht 20-3 in Galway last Saturday, with regular captain and out-half Jonathan Sexton one of the players swapped out ahead of the start of the Heineken Champions Cup next week.
With Kearney in the number 15 jersey, Fergus McFadden slots back in on the right wing with New Zealander James Lowe continuing on the left. Robbie Henshaw and Rory O’Loughlin, who went close to scoring a late try against Connacht, are selected together in the centre with Ross Byrne and Jamison Gibson-Park the starting half-backs.
Prop Jack McGrath makes his first appearance of the season having recovered from a knee injury. James Tracy and Michael Bent complete the front row, while Devin Toner becomes the third most-capped Leinster player of all-time, winning his 222nd cap in the second row alongside the returning James Ryan.
Rhys Ruddock captains the defending PRO14 champions from the back row with Dan Leavy and Sean O’Brien completing the pack as they make their first Leinster starts since last May and April respectively. O’Brien had a successful return from shoulder surgery as a first half replacement against Connacht.
Tickets for Leinster v Munster remain on general sale. Click here to buy now from Ticketmaster.ie.
Meanwhile, there are three changes to the side that secured Munster’s record GUINNESS PRO14 win over Ulster (64-7) at Thomond Park last Saturday. Jean Kleyn starts in the second row and Darren Sweetnam and Sam Arnold are added to the back-line.
Peter O’Mahony captains the Munstermen in an unchanged back row with in-form openside Tommy O’Donnell, who ran in two tries last weekend, and CJ Stander keeping their places. Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell and Stephen Archer are also retained in the front row, with Kleyn partnering Tadhg Beirne in the engine room.
Andrew Conway, who becomes the latest Munster player to reach 100 caps, starts at full-back with Sweetnam and Keith Earls on either flank. Dan Goggin, a standout performer in the Ulster game with a brace of tries, is joined by Arnold in midfield.
Joey Carbery, who made his high-profile move from Leinster in the summer, will face his former team as he makes his fourth successive start in the number 10 jersey. His 18 points against Ulster took his Munster haul to 38 points so far, and All Black Alby Mathewson, a debutant six days ago, will partner Carbery again at half-back.
Speaking ahead of the Dublin date with the defending PRO14 champions, Johann van Graan said: “You have to think outside the box against them (Leinster). Let’s call their defence the secret of their team. They don’t really commit a lot of guys to the breakdown. They are very comfortable to defend 10, 20, or 30 phases and once they get that turnover, they punish you.
“A lot of teams have come trying different things against them – some guys try to keep the ball in hand; some go to the air, some went with a breakdown focus and some went in with a variety of stuff. The important thing for us is that we play our game.”
LEINSTER: Rob Kearney; Fergus McFadden, Rory O’Loughlin, Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Jack McGrath, James Tracy, Michael Bent, Devin Toner, James Ryan, Rhys Ruddock (capt), Dan Leavy, Sean O’Brien.
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Cian Healy, Andrew Porter, Mick Kearney, Josh van der Flier, Luke McGrath, Noel Reid, Dave Kearney.
MUNSTER: Andrew Conway; Darren Sweetnam, Sam Arnold, Dan Goggin, Keith Earls; Joey Carbery, Alby Mathewson; Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer, Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne, Peter O’Mahony (capt), Tommy O’Donnell, CJ Stander.
Replacements: Kevin O’Byrne, James Cronin, Ciaran Parker, Billy Holland, Chris Cloete, Duncan Williams, JJ Hanrahan, Rory Scannell.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Dan Jones, Mike English (both Wales)
Television Match Official: Jon Mason (Wales)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Leinster to win: 1/3; Draw: 18/1; Munster to win: 13/5
Pre-Match Quotes: Leo Cullen (Leinster) – “You will do the best for what, in my opinion, the group demands. There are so many different variables at play now that weren’t there a couple of years ago. We had a big game against Edinburgh, a big game against Connacht.
“Then you are trying to manage the group, making different assessments on guys. Some guys picked up bangs and knocks along the way. We’re constantly dealing with those issues. That’s why we want to have a competitive group because over the course of the season, it does take its toll.
“We want to be able to manage guys. We want to be able to make sure that every week the team we put out is able to give everything of themselves to try and get us the result we all want. There’s a lot of factors at play. (The six-day turnaround to the Champions Cup opener) is definitely a consideration, for sure.
“We’ve picked a team that we want to go after certain areas because even though all the decisions we make might not necessarily make sense to the wider public, for us they make sense because we see the guys training on a week-to-week basis and we know what they can deliver in certain areas.
“And there are certain focus areas we will have on any given week as well, where we think we have a bit more knowledge on, while some people might just see the names of the teams and say, ‘oh maybe that doesn’t make much sense’, but we hope it does to us.
“It is important that we get the fundamentals of our game right because that is where Munster will test us out. There is a slightly different attacking dynamic that they have now, which is new, and we try to prepare accordingly for that.”
CJ Stander (Munster) – “We’ve worked with our coaching staff now for a good few months, we have a pre-season under our belt and we’ve quality players in positions that we’ve needed (the likes of Joey (Carbery), Tadhg (Beirne) and Alby (Mathewson) – they’ve come in and pushed the rest of the team.
“It’s an interpro. It doesn’t matter what the expectations of the public or supporters are. We know we’ve got to produce and to test ourselves against the best team in Europe. To go up there just to play is not going to be acceptable. We play this game to win.
“The last time we played them at the RDS, we lost by one point (in last season’s PRO14 semi-final). We almost got to a point where we could have won the game. There were a lot of things – we could have gone to the posts or whatever during the game.
“Sometimes we went up there in the last few years and tried to reinvent the wheel and it didn’t come off. Leinster were just unbelievable last year. Anything we tried, they just put us under pressure and the game they played was exactly what we couldn’t stop. They came down to Thomond Park and gave us a hiding. They can do it week in, week out and they proved it last weekend (away to Connacht). It’s the biggest challenge we are going to have.
“Leinster have a lot of depth, it doesn’t matter who they pick, they are always going to pitch up. We’ve seen that when we played them at the RDS. They changed a lot of players and still produced on the day. I think it’s a big challenge between two big provinces. It is a big rivalry.
“From our side again, we just want to go up there and make sure we are consistent and play our game because we know they are going to be at their very best. And then there’s our away form. It’s something we need to improve on, to start the season well and win your away games to make sure you get yourself into a place where you can get a home semi-final in the PRO14 and Europe. We know we need to do a lot better on the road.”
Top Scorers – 2018/19 GUINNESS PRO14: Leinster – Points: Jonathan Sexton 36; Tries: Jamison-Gibson Park 3; Munster – Points: Joey Carbery 38; Tries: Rhys Marshall, Tommy O’Donnell 3 each
2018/19 TEAM FORM: Leinster – Played 5, Won 4, Lost 1, 20 Points; W 33-32 v Cardiff Blues (away), L 23-21 v Scarlets (away), W 52-10 v Dragons (home), W 31-7 v Edinburgh (home), W 20-3 v Connacht (away); Munster – Played 5, Won 3, Lost 2, 15 Points; W 38-0 v Toyota Cheetahs (home), L 25-10 v Glasgow Warriors (away), W 49-13 v Ospreys (home), L 37-13 v Cardiff Blues (away), W 64-7 v Ulster (home)
RECENT LEAGUE MEETINGS:
Saturday, April 2, 2016 – Leinster 16 Munster 13, Aviva Stadium
Saturday, October 8, 2016 – Leinster 25 Munster 14, Aviva Stadium
Monday, December 26, 2016 – Munster 29 Leinster 17, Thomond Park
Saturday, October 7, 2017 – Leinster 23 Munster 17, Aviva Stadium
Tuesday, December 26, 2017 – Munster 24 Leinster 34, Thomond Park
Saturday, May 19, 2018 – Semi-Final – Leinster 16 Munster 15, the RDS
MATCH FACTS:
– Leinster’s only defeat in their last seven GUINNESS PRO14 matches was 23-21 at the Scarlets on September 8
– The Leinstermen have won their last nine matches at the Aviva Stadium in all tournaments since Toulon beat them there in December 2015
– Leinster’s only loss in their last eight fixtures against fellow Irish provinces was to Connacht in Galway in April
– Munster’s last seven matches have all gone the way of the home side on the day, while their only victory at Lansdowne Road/Aviva Stadium in their last eleven visits against all opponents in all tournaments was 34- 23 over Leinster in the PRO14 in October 2014
– Leinster’s only loss in their last seven encounters with Munster was 29-17 at Thomond Park on St. Stephen’s Day 2016
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