Team News: 50 Up for O'Brien, Toulouse make three changes

Leinster and Toulouse have named their matchday 23s for the Champions Cup semi-final clash at Aviva Stadium (KO 3pm – LIVE on BT Sport and RTÉ Radio One).

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has made one change to the matchday squad that conquered Leicester Tigers in England last weekend with Ciarán Frawley coming in ahead of Tommy O’Brien on the replacements bench.

Former Ireland U-20 captain O’Brien sadly suffered an ACL injury this week ruling him out of the remainder of the campaign and beyond.

In the starting XV, winger Jimmy O’Brien will make his 50th appearance for the province as part of a back three that also contains Hugo Keenan and James Lowe. In midfield, Garry Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw continue their partnership while captain Johnny Sexton and last weekend’s Heineken star of the match Jamison Gibson-Park complete the backs.

Up front, Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher and Tadhg Furlong retain their spots. As do Ross Molony and James Ryan, who came through his return from injury with no issues last weekend. Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, a try-scorer against Leicester, and Jack Conan are once again Cullen and Co’s choice in the back row.

Frawley is the one change on the bench with last week’s European debutant Joe McCarthy holding onto his spot. Long-serving prop Cian Healy is in line for his 99th appearance in the competition should he be introduced. They’re joined by Dan Sheehan, Michael Ala’alatoa, Rhys Ruddock, Luke McGrath and Ross Byrne.

As for Toulouse, Ugo Mola has made three changes to his starting lineup.

Rodrigue Neti drops to the bench with Cyril Baille coming into the starting lineup at loosehead prop. The remainder of the front row from the quarter-final win over Munster remains unchanged with Julien Machand at hooker and Dorian Aldegheri at tighthead prop.

Rory Arnold and Emmanuel Meafou continue their partnership in the second row while Mola has changed his back row. Thibaud Flament moves to the bench, as Toulouse opts for a 6-2 split in favour of the forwards. With Flament moving to the bench, Anthony Jelonch comes into the starting lineup at no.8 with Francois Cros moving to the openside flanker role and Rynhardt Elstadt remaining on the blindside. 

Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack start at 9 and 10 while Pita Ahki and Pierre Fouyssac retain the starting centre roles. Juan Cruz Mallia returns from his suspension and replaces the injured Dimitri Delibes on the right wing. Thomas Ramos starts at fullback with Matthis Lebel on the left wing.

Peato Mauvaka and David Ainu'u join Rodrigue Neti on the bench to provide cover. Joe Tekori, Selevasio Tolofua, and Thibaud Flament make up the remainder of the forward cover. 

Baptiste Germain and Maxime Medard have both been ruled out of the match through injury and have been replaced by Martin Page-Relo and Zack Holmes respectively.

Date: Sat 14 May 2022 KO: 15:00 Venue: Aviva StadiumLeinster Rugby

LEINSTER RUGBY

15. Hugo Keenan, 14. Jimmy O'Brien, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Robbie Henshaw, 11. James Lowe, 10. Johnny Sexton (c), 9. Jamison Gibson-Park, 1. Andrew Porter, 2. Ronan Kelleher, 3. Tadhg Furlong, 4. Ross Molony, 5. James Ryan, 6. Caelan Doris, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Jack Conan.

Replacements:

16. Dan Sheehan, 17. Cian Healy, 18. Michael Ala'alatoa, 19. Joe McCarthy, 20. Rhys Ruddock, 21. Luke McGrath, 22. Ross Byrne, 23. Ciaran Frawley,

TOULOUSE

15. Thomas Ramos, 14. Juan Cruz Mallía, 13. Pierre Fouyssac, 12. Pita Ahki, 11. Matthis Lebel, 10. Romain Ntamack, 9. Antoine Dupont, 1. Cyril Baille, 2. Julien Marchand (c), 3. Dorian Aldegheri, 4. Rory Arnold, 5. Emmanuel Meafou, 6. Rynhardt Elstadt, 7. Francois Cros, 8. Anthony Jelonch.

Replacements:
16. Peato Mauvaka, 17. Rodrigue Neti, 18. David Ainu'u, 19. Joe Tekori, 20. Selevasio Tolofua, 21. Thibaud Flament, 22. Martin Page Relo, 23. Zack Holmes

Referee: Karl Dickson (England)

AR1: Christophe Ridley (England)

AR2: Anthony Woodthorpe (England)

TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)

Broadcasters: BT Sport / beIN SPORTS / France 2