Montpellier have not held back in their selection for their Heineken Cup Pool finale against Leinster on Saturday, with Mamuka Gorgodze returning.
Montpol go into the game against the holders knowing that victory would hand them a slim chance of finishing with enough points to drop into the last-eight of the Amlin Challenge Cup.
And they have made a host of changes to the side that defeated Bath last week as Gorgodze joins Francois Trinh-Duc, Lucas Amorosino, Julien Tomas, Yoan Audrin, Paul Bosch, Martin Bustos Moyano, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Alex Tulou, Drickus Hancke, George Jgenti, Agustin Creevy and Na'ama Leleimalefaga in the starting XV.
Meanwhile, Leo Cullen, who is set to make his 170th appearance for the province, captains a Leinster side which shows a number of changes to the side from last weekend's win in Glasgow.
Cullen packs down alongside Damian Browne at lock while Jamie Heaslip makes his 50th Heineken Cup appearance and is named alongside Sean O'Brien and Rhys Ruddock.
Jamie Hagan makes his Heineken Cup debut and starts in the front row alongside fellow 2007 U20 Grand Slam winning prop Cian Healy as well as the returning Richardt Strauss.
In the backline, Isaac Boss partners Bank of Ireland Player of the Month Jonathan Sexton at half back, with Eoin O'Malley coming in to partner Gordon D'Arcy (who makes his 199th Leinster appearance on Saturday) in the midfield and Fergus McFadden shifting to wing.
Five Ireland internationals are named on the bench.
The teams:
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Eoin O'Malley, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Isa Nacewa, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Damian Browne, 4 Leo Cullen, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Heinke Van der Merwe, 18 Mike Ross, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Shane Jennings, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Fionn Carr.
Montpellier: 15 Lucas Amorosino, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Yoan Audrin, 12 Paul Bosch, 11 Martin Bustos Moyano, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Julien Tomas, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Mickael Demarco, 4 Drickus Hancke, 3 George Jgenti, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Na'ama Leleimalefaga.
Replacements: 16 Rassie van Vuuren, 17 Juan Figallo, 18 Maximiliano Bustos, 19 Joe Tuineau, 20 Vassili Bost, 21 Benoit Paillaugue, 22 Santiago Fernandez, 23 Geoffrey Doumayrou.
Date: Saturday, January 21
Kick-off: 13:30
Venue: RDS
Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Tim Wigglesworth (England), Robin Goodliffe (England)
Television match official: David Grashoff (England)
Comments
Bones7 says...
@leinster_goy - nah, it's probably just to get Jennings used to being on the bench for the next few weeks for Ireland!
Posted 12:22 21st January 2012
crunchfit says...
Like the look of the Leinster team. Why can't Kidney do anything like Schmidt and take a few pages out of his book? Going to be difficult for them I'd say. Aways enjoy watching Gorgodze, one of the best 8s in the world.
Posted 11:20 21st January 2012
damo says...
Tough game for leinster, mc fadden should be at 12 and they would carve open a strong french outfit, carrying players will bring the team down, hagan should have veen playing in connaught tonight rather than warming the bench in the capital city, irfu are the problem
Posted 22:58 20th January 2012
papachinzo says...
Good move on Hagan, I think he'll be first choice for Ireland soon enough.
I think Leo Cullen should have been dropped, he hasn't been playing well this season at all. Especially in the last 2 or 3 games, his form has hit the floor.
Posted 15:33 20th January 2012
BackingLeinster says...
i don't think Ross has been dropped, more like being rested. Good to see Hagan getting the start though. I also think Damian Browne is in there as he was effective enough against Gorgodzilla the last time.
Posted 14:11 20th January 2012
tombomb says...
leinster_goy i though he had a big impact when he came on last week so i think that's the reason he's starting. would he be better off going to munster i don't think so i think joe schmidt will make him into a ridiculously good player if he stays
Posted 13:50 20th January 2012
curates_egg says...
Eoin O'Malley gets the nod outside D'Arcy, with McFadden on the wing.
Great stuff. O'Malley is one of the only 13s in Ireland and should be given every chance - all the more so as he has stepped up to the plate at every time of asking.
The other huge call is to drop Mike Ross and start Hagan. Ross has been performing badly for a while - it just seems like a very small front row. Can Hagan front up?
Boss in for Reddan - reflects form. Boss has been the better 9 for Leinster over the past 14 months too.
Strauss in for Cronin - Cronin has been playing well but Strauss is back from injury and is class.
Ruddock for Jennings - why not?
Posted 13:12 20th January 2012
leinster_goy says...
rudders at 6...could this be motivated at all by yesterday's report???
Posted 13:08 20th January 2012
maria14 says...
Montpellier have named an impressive team, but leinster at home eekk tough to look past a home win.
I think the french will give it their all for the first 20 mins and if leinster are pulling away Montpellier will bring off the stars as they play Stade Francis at home next weekend and both clubs are close in the log this season, montpol trail the parisians by four points.
xxx
Posted 10:11 20th January 2012