Leinster Lions return for Scarlets

Leo Cullen recalls five touring Lions to the Leinster squad for the first time this season as he names a very strong side to face the Scarlets this evening in the RDS Arena with kick off at 5:15pm.

Tadhg Furlong’s return to the side has allowed his coach to select him alongside his front row colleagues of Andrew Porter and Rónan Kelleher for the first time in what will be a very interesting development for Irish coach Andy Farrell.

All three will be putting their hands up to be the starting front row for the upcoming Autumn internationals in just a few short weeks.

Elsewhere Jack Conan comes into the back row, Johnny Sexton will captain the side from out-half, Garry Ringrose is selected at centre and James Lowe will be looking to add to his scoring prowess for the Blues from the wing.

Henshaw’s continued absence from the side is a concern for Cullen who said “It’s just been a little slower than we would have thought, so it’s unlikely he will play in this block but hopefully he won’t be too far behind after that,

“In the past he’s come back reasonably seamlessly off the back of breaks with the various different injuries that he’s had. He tends to come back in a good place. He’s training away but he’s just not able to play right now. I think once he’s back he’ll be able to go straight back in, whatever team that is with.”

Most of Irish Head Coach Andy Farrell’s attention will be focused on that front row trio with Cian Healy dropping to the bench as a replacement to accommodate Furlough’s reintroduction to the side although Henshaw missing will be a worry for him as he will have to look for cover at centre for the visit of Japan and New Zealand in particular.

It’s not as if Leinster needed those reinforcements. Their first three games have produced three victories, two of those with bonus point victories while Scarlets have struggled to one win in three and a dismal 13-43 defeat at home to Munster last weekend.

A Johnny McNicholl converted try their only bright spot in that game as they saw their try line breached on no fewer than six occasions by Munster.

It’s hard to look past a home win here, Leinster had 27 points to spare in the last meeting of the sides in Parc y Scarlets in January and Scarlets have a poor record in the RDS, only twice coming out on top in their last 15 visits to the Dublin venue to face Leinster.