Leinster looking to maintain top spot
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:58
Leinster will be looking to maintain their standing on top of the Magners League against the Glasgow Warriors on Thursday, and have named a strong team which shows a healthy combination of youth and experience.
Malcolm O'Kelly will make his 180th appearance in Leinster colours, while on the other end of the spectrum there's a first home start for Eoin O'Malley and Paul Ryan, 21, who made his senior debut for the province away to the Dragons at the beginning of December. He is rewarded with his home debut in a back-row which includes in-form duo Stephen Keogh and Kevin McLaughlin.
O'Malley, meanwhile, continues his centre partnership with Fergus McFadden, while Paul O'Donohoe comes in at scrumhalf alongside Shaun Berne who continues at flyhalf.
Bernard Jackman captains the side and is named in a powerful front-row alongside fellow Ireland international Mike Ross and South Africa's CJ van der Linde.
Speaking ahead of the
game, hooker and captain Jackman said that the team are determined to maintain their standing at the top of the Magners League, but are expecting a tough battle against the Scottish outfit.
"Glasgow are a side who always put it up to you," he said, "Scottish sides sometimes don't get the respect that they deserve yet themselves and Edinburgh are right up on the top end of the Magners League table, but we know all about the threats that they can pose.
"The Warriors are a tough team to beat and they drew in Connacht, which was no mean feat because we know how hard it can be to go down to the Sportsground and win. They could have even won that game.
"It is a huge honour to be asked to lead the team out again, but the mindset from our point of view is that we must back up our recent wins and everyone who is selected has an opportunity to stake a claim on a Leinster shirt.
"We're exactly where we want to be at the top of the Magners League and
we've got to push on from here."
Team:
Leinster: 15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Simon Keogh, 13 Eoin O'Malley, 12 Fergus McFadden, 11 Isa Nacewa, 10 Shaun Berne, 9 Paul O'Donohoe, 8 Stephen Keogh, 7 Paul Ryan, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Bernard Jackman (captain), 1 CJ van der Linde
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Stan Wright, 18 Trevor Hogan, 19 Eoin Sheriff, 20 Chris Keane, 21 Ian Madigan, 22 Michael Keating
Date: Thursday, March 18
Venue: RDS Stadium
Kick-off: 19:30 GMT
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Michael Black (Ireland), Mark Hermin (Ireland)
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