Preview: Leinster v Ulster

Leinster welcome back loose forward Shane Jennings to their starting line-up for their Magners League clash against Ulster.

Leinster welcome back loose forward Shane Jennings to their starting line-up for their Magners League clash against Ulster at RDS Dublin on Saturday.

Jennings returns to the team after missing the last two months through injury and is named in an all-Ireland international back-row alongside Kevin McLaughlin and number eight Jamie Heaslip.

Heinke van der Merwe and Stan Wright take their places in the front row, with Devin Toner starting at lock alongside skipper Leo Cullen.

Isaac Boss will make his 25th appearance of the season and his 100th league appearance in all (spanning his Ulster and Leinster careers) and the Ireland scrum-half partners Jonathan Sexton at half-back.

Eoin O'Malley lines up at centre alongside Fergus McFadden with Leinster's top try-scorer in the Magners League, Shane Horgan (five tries in 13 league games), continuing in the back three alongside Luke Fitzgerald and Isa Nacewa.

The final make up of the replacements bench will be made closer to kick-off.

Meanwhile, Brian McLaughlin has been forced to make two changes from last week's starting XV as his side travel to the RDS.

Bok lock Johann Muller sustained a dead leg against Northampton in the Heineken Cup quarter-final on Sunday, while wing Simon Danielli picked up a shoulder injury. Tim Barker and Craig Gilroy are promoted from the bench as direct replacements.

Neil McComb and Conor Gaston replace Barker and Gilroy on the bench and are joined by Darren Cave who returns at the expense of Ian Whitten.

Form: Leinster's only defeat in their last five matches in all competitions was 23-24 at Munster on 2 April. The Leinstermen have won their last 24 home regular season games in the Magners League. Ulster have won their last six Magners League encounters since their 22-23 reversal at Ospreys on 13 February. The Ulstermen have yet to beat a fellow Irish province this season. Leinster have won five of their last six games against Ulster, whilst the Ulstermen have not won a game in Dublin since a 26-15 victory over Leinster at Donnybrook in the Interprovincial Championship on 13 August 1999.

The teams:

Leinster: 15 Isa Nacewa, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Eoin O'Malley, 12 Fergus McFadden, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Leo Cullen (c), 3 Stan Wright, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Jason Harris-Wright, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Mike Ross, 19 Nathan Hines, 20 Sean O'Brien/Dominic Ryan, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 David Kearney.

Ulster: 15 Adam D'Arcy, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Nevin Spence, 12, Paddy Wallace, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Tim Barker, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Tom Court
Replacements:
Replacements: 16 Andy Kyriacou, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Bryan Young, 19 Neil McComb, 20 Willie Faloon, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Darren Cave, 23 Conor.

Date: Saturday, April 16
Venue: RDS Dublin
Kick-off: 20:00 BST
Referee: Pascal Gauzere