Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Sexton starts as Leinster face first SA opponents of the season

(Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Ireland flyhalf Johnny Sexton is to make his first start of the season for Leinster as they welcome the Cell C Sharks to the RDS this Saturday.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sexton came off the bench against Ulster last weekend but make his start as Leinster face their first South African opponents of the season, the first SA side to visit Dublin since the Bulls beat Leo Cullen men’s in last year’s URC semi-final.

Leinster have named a strong team for the arrival of the Durban based Sharks, with 15 internationals starting, including 11 Ireland Test players. On the bench they have the likes of Cian Healy, Garry Ringrose, James Ryan and Rhys Rudduck to call on if things get sticky.

Video Spacer

Video Spacer

Luke McGrath starts at scrumhalf alongside Sexton, while in the pack it’s the same front five that left Ravenhill with a win last weekend.  Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Michael Ala’alatoa make up the front row, while Ross Molony and the in-form Jason Jenkins combine in the engine room.

Dynamic utility forward Ryan Baird starts again this week at blindside flanker with Will Connors coming in at openside, while British & Irish Lions star Jack Conan is again selected at No.8.

The Sharks have named an ‘almost unchanged line-up’ for the game as they look to end their mini-European tour on a high.

“As coaches, we’re really excited with what we’ve seen [with the loose trio] over the last couple of weeks, it’s been phenomenal, and we know there’s going to be even more improvement in that department as we progress in the competition,” said assistant coach Warren Whiteley. “What’s most important for us is the cohesion of the players which is really important and that does take time, especially in a loose trio and they’ll find each other the more they play together.”

ADVERTISEMENT

LEINSTER RUGBY:
15. Jimmy O’Brien
14. Jordan Larmour
13. Robbie Henshaw
12. Charlie Ngatai
11. Rob Russell
10. Johnny Sexton CAPTAIN
9. Luke McGrath
1. Andrew Porter
2. Dan Sheehan
3. Michael Ala’alatoa
4. Ross Molony
5. Jason Jenkins
6. Ryan Baird
7. Will Connors
8. Jack Conan

REPLACEMENTS:
16. John McKee
17. Cian Healy
18. Vakhtang Abdaladze
19. James Ryan
20. Rhys Ruddock
21. Cormac Foley
22. Ross Byrne
23. Garry Ringrose

CELL C SHARKS:
1. Ntuthuko Mchunu
2. Kerron van Vuuren
3. Thomas du Toit (c)
4. Justin Basson
5. Hyron Andrews
6. James Venter
7. Dylan Richardson
8. Sikhumbuzo Notshe
9. Grant Williams
10. Boeta Chamberlain
11. Thaakir Abrahams
12. Ben Tapuai
13. Rohan Janse van Rensburg
14. Werner Kok
15. Aphelele Fassi

REPLACEMENTS:
16. Dan Jooste
17. Dian Bleuler
18. Carlu Sadie
19. Reniel Hugo
20. Phepsi Buthelezi
21. Cameron Wright
22. Nevaldo Fleurs*
23. Marnus Potgieter

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

R
RedWarriors 3 hours ago
'Not a normal rugby team' - The Leinster flex that floored Jake White

I was actually at the match. Leinster were the outstanding team in the league stage. Leinster’s squad depth meant the Bulls could only nick a late win in Pretoria against an understrenght Leinster. Simple put, Leinster are significantly better this year compared to last. The Dublin match last year was a big win by Leinster. Yes they won by a point in the RDS three years ago but thats not relevant to yesterday.

As Leinster are such a dangerous team, it forces an opponent to focus on a strategy to undermine them and that way get their game on the pitch. Leinster allowed that against Northampton. But that was not going to happen again. The Bulls attack in last 10 minutes of the first half was as savage as anything in the URC this year. Yet Leinsters coaching plan repelled them allied to savage commitment from the players. The defense was outstanding, pressure at breakdown outstanding. Leinster did not win the European cup but arguably at their best this year no other European team could reach that height. They reached that yesterday. Leinster completely removed Bulls ability to hurt them.

And Croke Park….100 years ago the Brits fired machine guns into spectators injuring 100s and killing loads. No Irish team ever performs badly there. Same with Irish supporters. Opposition players might as well be Brit Tommies with machine guns.

I think a great Leinster team, played a great game plan, to the height of their power in a horrible stadium for opponents. If Bulls score before half time they were back in the match. They went down, but they went down fighting.

12 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Where are they now? Bath and Leicester's 1996 Pilkington Cup final teams Where are they now? Bath and Leicester's 1996 Pilkington Cup sides
Search