Carlows Ed Byrne has been named on the bench for Leinsters Guinness PRO 14 clash against Ulster tomorrow night at the RDS.
The game sees the top two teams in Conference B of the Guinness PRO14 going head-to-head for the first time this season.
Rob Kearney is back from injury and will lead Leinster out in front of a capacity crowd with none of the 18,300 tickets left for purchase.
From the team that started in Munster last week, Adam Byrne comes in on the right wing as does Barry Daly on the left. Daly has recovered from a knee injury and it’s his first game since August when he lasted only 11 minutes in the first game of the season away to the Cardiff Blues.
Noel Reid is joined by Conor O’Brien in the centre with Jamison Gibson-Park and Ciarán Frawley the half back pairing for the first game of 2019.
In the pack there is a welcome return for British & Irish Lion Jack McGrath who has recovered from a hip injury to take his place in the front row alongside Seán Cronin and Andrew Porter.
Ross Molony and Mick Kearney start in the second row with Josh Murphy, Scott Penny and Max Deegan the back row.
On the bench there is a potential debut for Lansdowne’s Oisín Dowling in the second row. 21 year old Dowling who has 10 Ireland Under 20s caps to his name is in his second year in the Leinster Academy.
Leinster Rugby (caps in brackets):
15. Rob Kearney (203) CAPTAIN
14. Adam Byrne (45)
13. Conor O’Brien (9)
12. Noel Reid (110)
11. Barry Daly (28)
10. Ciarán Frawley (8)
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (62)
1. Jack McGrath (137)
2. Seán Cronin (163)
3. Andrew Porter (42)
4. Ross Molony (75)
5. Mick Kearney (43)
6. Josh Murphy (14)
7. Scott Penny (2)
8. Max Deegan (31)
16. James Tracy (80)
17. Ed Byrne (33)
18. Michael Bent (114)
19. Oisín Dowling (0)
20. Caelan Doris (7)
21. Hugh O’Sullivan (5)
22. Ross Byrne (60)
23. Jimmy O’Brien (2)
