Leinster 2011-12

[darkside lightside]

The Leinster team to face the Ospreys in the Liberty Stadium in Friday night's opening game of the RaboDirect PRO 12 campaign (KO: 7.05pm, LIVE BBC Wales) has been named...Kevin McLaughlin makes his 50th Leinster appearance and starts in a back-row which includes Dominic Ryan and Rhys Ruddock who leads the side. There are competitive debuts for the half-back pairing of John Cooney and Mat Berquist while second row Damian Browne also comes in for his first start. Browne locks down with Ireland international Devin Toner with Heinke van der Merwe named in the front row alongside Richardt Strauss and Jamie Hagan.

Luke Fitzgerald partners Eoin O'Malley at centre with David Kearney, Fionn Carr and Isa Nacewa forming the back three.

There are six recent Leinster Academy graduates on the replacements bench, amongst them Cillian Willis who re-joined the province this summer having made the last of his 12 appearances in the 2007/08 season.

OSPREYS:

15: Richard Fussell
14: Kristian Phillips
13: Andrew Bishop
12: Ashley Beck
11: Hanno Dirksen
10: Dan Biggar
9: Rhys Webb

1: Duncan Jones
2: Mefin Davies
3: Cai Griffiths
4: Ian Gough
5: Ian Evans
6: Tom Smith
7: Justin Tipuric CAPTAIN
8: Jonathan Thomas

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Matthew Dwyer
17: Ken Dowding
18: Joe Rees
19: James King
20: Morgan Allen
21: Tom Isaacs
22: Matthew Morgan
23: Sonny Parker

LEINSTER:

15: Isa Nacewa
14: Fionn Carr
13: Eoin O'Malley
12: Luke Fitzgerald
11: David Kearney
10: Mat Berquist
9: John Cooney

1: Heinke van der Merwe
2: Richardt Strauss
3: Jamie Hagan
4: Damian Browne
5: Devin Toner
6: Kevin McLaughlin
7: Dominic Ryan
8: Rhys Ruddock CAPTAIN

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Aaron Dundon
17: Jack McGrath
18: Jack O'Connell
19: Mark Flanagan
20: Leo Auva'a
21: Cillian Willis
22: Ian Madigan
23: Brendan Macken

Two decent looking sides, particularly considering all the RWC absentees.. Interesting to see how Fitz goes at 12..

[cjp]

I notice Leinster player Ian McKinley was forced to retire from rugby due to an injury to his eye that has led to him losing sight in that eye.

[colinh]

I notice Cillian Willis is back in there.

[Cormac]

I notice Cillian Willis is back in there.

Short-term contract to cover Boss and Reddan's absence during the World Cup. He's giving up pro rugby after his stint with Leinster.

Great shame about McKinley, he looked a better prospect than Madigan at 10 to my mind.

[BaggyTrousers]

Hairy ould pack the Ospreys have out & good halves as well, think Leinster will struggle but then again they did last year at the start and look what happened.

Actually it would have been a decent time to play them.

Good luck to all the provinces.

[gannonman]

Pretty poor from Leinster although you would have thought that Ospreys were going to get the bonus point.

[darkside lightside]

Pretty poor from Leinster although you would have thought that Ospreys were going to get the bonus point.

Leinster were really, really terrible against the Ospreys... shades of last season, but I'm sure the fans would accept a similar outcome! I actually didn't think they looked very good against Dragons either, apart from a good third quarter and a couple of lovely bits of play for the tries - too many errors, and too little control. I know he's the blue-eyed boy, and he's a hell of a specimen, but Ruddock really lacks dynamism at 8 for me - he's more reminiscent of lumbering Ryan Jones than Heaslip. I'm not sure what to make of Madigan, his try was outstanding, but his distribution isn't great. I do like the look of Dave Kearney - just like Rob used to be... and Fionn Carr is an absolutely mouth-watering runner, if we had a sniff of signing him we should have nailed it down...

[BaggyTrousers]

Afraid I didn't see it but on paper that was a Leinster team who should have been competitive. Not about to write them off any time soon mind you.

[Aird]

Leinster go down by 19-23 to Glasgow Warriors helps keep Ulster ahead

[cables]

Leinster go down by 19-23 to Glasgow Warriors helps keep Ulster ahead

Very, very few would have predicted that result.

[Snipe Watson]

Leinster go down by 19-23 to Glasgow Warriors helps keep Ulster ahead

Very, very few would have predicted that result.

You did, didn't you?

[cables]

Leinster go down by 19-23 to Glasgow Warriors helps keep Ulster ahead

Very, very few would have predicted that result.

You did, didn't you?

Nope - that one went away.

[againstthehead]

i thought glasgow played well against us for parts but would never have expected them to win in leinster - excellent result for Ulster. Need a few more like that before the RWC players return...

[Aird]

Agreed vital Ulster keep on winning during the RWC to build up platform for an assault on the League.
Our HEC pool looks quite daunting but the more wins under our belt the more confidence and we have Best, Ferris and Court to add to the pack not to mention Offea and Muller which makes the pool not so frightening after all.

[Jackie Brown]

Dark times for Leinster