Possible Lions: Johnny Sexton and Lee Byrne
Heinke Van Der Merwe and Richardt Strauss will both start in the front row for Leinster's rematch with Clermont in the Heineken Cup.
The champions must win at home to remain in touch with Clermont, as they look for a third successive Heineken Cup title in three years.
Heinke van der Merwe has recovered from injury and the Springbok prop is one of two changes to the front row alongside Ireland international hooker Richardt Strauss. They line up alongside Mike Ross, with skipper Leo Cullen continuing his second row partnership with Damian Browne.
Shane Jennings, a second half replacement in Clermont last weekend, starts in the back-row alongside fellow Ireland internationals Sean O'Brien and number eight Jamie Heaslip.
Eoin Reddan partners Jonathan Sexton in the only change to the backline which started last weekend's game, which means that Andrew Goodman will continue his midfield partnership with Gordon D'Arcy.
David Kearney has recovered from injury to take his place amongst a replacements bench which features several Ireland internationals.
Meanwhile, Clermont fly-half Brock James faces a late fitness test before the re-match with champions Leinster in the Heineken Cup at the Aviva Stadium.
A win for Clermont - who are now favourites to win Heineken Cup Pool 5 - would put them in pole position for a home quarter-final place, whilst also taking out one of their nearest rivals for the title in the process.
David Skrela will replace James if he is unable to play, with Benson Stanley then set to provide cover from the bench.
Julien Bardy and Raphael Chaume both start in the pack replacing Alexandre Lapandry and Vincent Debaty.
Aurélien Rougerie continues to captain the side, the player with the most offloads so far in the Heineken Cup this season.
Odds on Paddy Power: Leinster at 1/3; Clermont at 5/2
The teams:
Leinster: 15 Ian Madigan, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Gordon D'Arcy, 12 Andrew Goodman, 11 Isa Nacewa, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Sean O'Brien, 5 Damien Browne, 4 Leo Cullen (capt), 3 Mike Ross, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Heinke Van Der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Kevin McLaughlin, 21 Issac Boss, 22 Andrew Conway, 23 David Kearney.
Clermont: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Aurélien Rougerie (c), 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Naipolioni Nalaga, 10 Brock James/David Skrela, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Julien Bardy, 6 Julien Bonnaire, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Raphael Chaume.
Replacements: 16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Daniel Kotze, 19 Loïc Jacquet, 20 Alexandre Lapandry, 21 Ludo Radosavljevic, 22 David Skrela/Benson Stanley, 23 Regan King.
Date: Saturday, December 15
Kick-off: 15:40
Venue: Aviva Stadium
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Martin Fox (England), Paul Dix (England)
Television match official: Geoff Warren (England)
Comments
Dannyboy says...
As a Leinster fan. really looking forward to this. I see a Leinster win, but boy has this Clermont team impressed me over the last few years.
If Leinster lose here, then Clermont deserve everything they get, which will no doubt be the trophy.
I live for these games! Allez les blues, allez les jaune!
Posted 05:14 15th December 2012
new_j4a says...
@DaveJ ...6 tries? With Wayne Barnes in charge? Pigs will fly first. Perhaps if one side can build a substantial lead and the confidence to kick for the corner. Otherwise its going to be plenty of shots at goal courtesy of Mr Barne's vast and eagerly displayed knowledge of every esoteric but minute point of Law, sprinkled with his own brand of condescending drivel...this game will be as much fun as a visit to the proctologist.
Posted 23:03 14th December 2012
scrumdog says...
Look for Leinster to really put this one away! They've been getting better with each game after a sluggish opening to the season...momentum is building and the Leinster juggernaut returns this weekend at Lansdowne Rd.
Posted 19:10 14th December 2012
Toulousain says...
Wayne Barnes. Quelle dommage.
Posted 17:22 14th December 2012
DaveJ says...
I have a feeling that Leinster will shell shock Clermont in the first 5-10 mins, score 2 tries, the game will settle down eventually, Clermont to get a couple of tries back but Leinster to continue to score and win with a 4 try bonus point, narrowly denying Clermont of any points.
Posted 15:12 14th December 2012
Rosbif says...
Really looking forward to this one.... and hope for the sake of the contest that James starts instead of Skrela...
The changes are subtle but significant methinks. And Schmidt vs Cotter is the ultimate mind game of course. Last week Schmidt started his "away" team with Boss, McLaughlin and Cronin. Meanwhile, Cotter played his only true open-side (in the absence of Vosloo) Lapandry from the start, as well as his" impact/good in the loose" prop Debaty. This week the roles are reversed. Schmidt puts out his tempo team (Reddan for Boss, Jennings for McLaughlin) behind his biggest front row, and holds back Healy and Cronin for when the ASM pack get tired. Cotter puts out a better csrummaging team to start and keeps back Debaty and Lapandry on the bench for tempo later on. Hmmmm.
Or is it that Ross totally dominated Debaty? and Zirakasvhili dominated Healy? Or maybe Healy and Debaty aren't used to playing more than 60 minutes and don't have enough left in the tank from last week...who knows?
Interesting that, despite the money they have, ASM don't seem to trust their replacement half backs. Parra has played almost every minute of every game this season. His only time off was warming the bench for Machenaud during the internationals. And Skrela rarely gets to start ahead of James (whereas Madigan is a safe bet at 10 and has game time there).
In other words, if this were the ABs, they would (hypothetically of course) simply take Parra out of the game at the first ruck, then hey presto, different game! James/Skrela has to take over kicking (which they bottle in big games) and Rado has to learn the plays on the hoof.
Good luck both teams. I hear it's going to be sunny/dry in Dublin tomorrow. So, Leinster by 7+ but to fall short of the 4 tries.
Posted 15:00 14th December 2012
paddy91317 says...
As long as leinster win im happy out... if we get out of this group we will win the tournament with the final being at home. Ahh saturday cant come soon enough
Posted 14:43 14th December 2012
cineseb says...
Leinster by 2 - so that Clermont keeps the advantage!!
Posted 12:55 14th December 2012
leinster_goy says...
Leinster by 10. will it be with a winning bonus point?
IN SCHMIDTY WE TRUST
Posted 12:34 14th December 2012