Cape Town – Leinster have already been touted as this monster unbeatable team, and that reputation will have been entrenched further in the minds of South African rugby fans considering their team selection for Friday’s United Rugby Championship semi-final against the Bulls in Dublin.
Leinster coach Leo Cullen picked six players with over 100 caps in their starting line-up on Thursday – with two more on 90 or more appearances – as well as five centurions on the bench. And two of those, hooker Sean Cronin and prop Cian Healy, have over 200 caps!
That is in stark contrast to the Bulls side named by Jake White earlier in the day, where there isn’t even a single current Springbok in the match-23.
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And the bad news doesn’t end there for White’s team… Such is the depth in the Leinster squad that Cullen could afford to keep veteran Irish flyhalf Johnny Sexton and loosehead Healy on the bench for the RDS Arena showdown (8.35pm SA time kickoff).
Leinster, who have won the last four editions of this competition, were further boosted by the return of Robbie Henshaw at inside centre after the Irish Test midfielder played off the bench in last weekend’s 76-14 demolition of Glasgow, while giant No 8 Jack Conin returns at the back of the scrum, which sees Caelan Doris shift to blindside flank, alongside European Champions Cup player of the season, Josh van der Flier.
Star tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong has also recovered from a back issue that saw him leave the pitch early against Glasgow, so the Bulls pack will be in for a serious test in the scrums on Friday night.
* Meanwhile, Italian official Andrea Piardi has been appointed as the referee for the Dublin clash.
Leinster Team
15 Jimmy O’Brien 14 Jordan Larmour 13 Garry Ringrose 12 Robbie Henshaw 11 Rory O’Loughlin 10 Ross Byrne 9 Jamison Gibson-Park 8 Jack Conan 7 Josh van der Flier 6 Caelan Doris 5 James Ryan (captain) 4 Joe McCarthy 3 Tadhg Furlong 2 Dan Sheehan 1 Andrew Porter.
Bench: 16 Sean Cronin 17 Cian Healy 18 Michael Ala’alatoa 19 Ross Molony 20 Ryan Baird 21 Luke McGrath 22 Johnny Sexton 23 Ciaran Frawley.
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