PRO14 Preview: Friday

Two matches take place in Round Two of the PRO14 on Friday as Leinster host Cardiff Blues while Edinburgh welcome the Dragons to Myreside.

Leinster v Cardiff Blues

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has announced his first home matchday squad of the 2017/18 PRO14 season and with it welcomes back a number of players for their first involvement of the new season.

But the night and the occasion belongs to Ireland lock Devin Toner who will lead the team out on the occasion of his 200th cap for Leinster. In doing so he becomes only the sixth Leinster player to have achieved that milestone with Jamie Heaslip the only other player in the current squad.

Toner has scored three tries in his 199 caps to date with the last one coming in September 2012 against the Scarlets.

The 6’10” second-row made his debut in January 2006 in a home win against Border Reivers and will be hoping for a similar result 12 seasons later.

Elsewhere, Cullen has picked the same back-line – bar one – that accounted for Dragons last week at Rodney Parade with Irish scrum-half Luke McGrath the only change as he starts beside Ross Byrne.

Otherwise it’s as you were with Rob Kearney at full-back, Adam Byrne on the right wing and Jordan Larmour on the left for his first senior game in the RDS Arena. Larmour made a try scoring start to his Leinster career last week.

Isa Nacewa again captains the side from inside centre with Rory O’Loughlin outside him at 13.

Once again Cian Healy and Michael Bent are chosen as the props but James Tracy comes in at hooker for his first start of the campaign.

In the second row, once again Scott Fardy has been partnered with Toner, as the 39 times capped Australian international makes his RDS debut.

There are two changes to the back row with only Josh van der Flier retained as he again starts at openside. Rhys Ruddock is involved for the first time this season fresh from captaining the Irish team during the summer on their unbeaten tour of the USA and Japan. Jack Conan is the final name on Cullen’s starting XV having impressed off the bench against Dragons.

On the bench there is a first involvement of the season for Mick Kearney.

Meanwhile, Cardiff Blues head coach Danny Wilson has made six changes to his starting line-up for this fixture.

Following a disappointing home defeat to Edinburgh, the Blues travel to Dublin with a much changed team and a determination to bounce back.

Four of the changes come in the back-line with full-back Rhun Williams making a welcome return to fitness to start ahead of Matthew Morgan.

Garyn Smith comes into the centre, Tom James, who made his 150th appearance last week, starts on the wing and Steve Shingler has been given the nod at fly-half.

There are two more, injury-forced, changes up front with Keiron Assiratti replacing Taufa'ao Filise and Macauley Cook starting on the blindside with Josh Turnbull switching to number eight.

Wilson admits the loss to Edinburgh was hard to take but he has called for a response at the RDS.

"The Edinburgh performance didn't look any better on Monday but hopefully it is a quick fix," he said.

"We have done some pretty physical contact work this week to put it right because it's not like us.

"A week before we were extremely physical against a big Exeter side but we didn't see that same edge and presence against Edinburgh. That's the disappointing thing, especially when it's your first home game in the league

"We have dealt with it, we have moved on and I know with this group we can bounce back and there is no better challenge than away to Leinster."

Wilson was in the stands as Leinster kicked-off their season with a commanding victory over the Dragons.

And while he admits it is a daunting challenge, he insists his side can take confidence from their performance in Dublin at the end of the season, where they slipped to an agonising one-point loss.

"Their defence was extremely aggressive against the Dragons and they have increased their line-speed," he added. 

"They were heavily competing at the breakdowns, especially in the wide channels and they obviously play a very attractive brand of rugby while also being able to overpower teams with a big pack of forwards.

"Leinster in Leinster is always a huge challenge whichever team you play but it's one we will be motivated for.

"Last year we took them to the wire in a game which was won by one point and was arguably a game we could have nicked. 

"It's a strong test but we will draw on the confidence from the way we performed there last season and can hopefully produce something similar."

The teams:

Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Isa Nacewa (c), 11 Jordan Larmour, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Scott Fardy, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Michael Bent, 2 James Tracy, 1 Cian Healy 
Replacements: 16 Seán Cronin, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Cathal Marsh, 23 Barry Daly

Cardiff Blues: 15 Rhun Williams, 14 A Cuthbert, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Tom James, 10 Steve Shingler, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Josh Turnbull, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Macauley Cook, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Matthew Rees (c), 1 Rhys Gill 
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 James Down, 20 Sion Bennett, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Matthew Morgan

Date: Friday, September 8
Venue: RDS Arena, Dublin
Kick-off: 19:35 local (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Frank Murphy (Ireland), Eddie Hogan-O'Connell (Ireland)
TMO: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

Edinburgh v Dragons

Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill has made five changes to his starting XV that beat Cardiff Blues last weekend.

Centre Robbie Fruean will make his Edinburgh debut, replacing Junior Rasolea who is named among the replacements. The former Junior All Black is partnered in the midfield by one of last week’s try-scorers, Chris Dean.

Elsewhere in the backs, Damien Hoyland replaces the injured Dougie Fife on the right wing.

At loosehead prop, Italian international prop Michele Rizzo replaces Darryl Marfo who drops to the bench whilst Ben Toolis rorates in for Anton Bresler. Toolis will pack-down alongside Grant Gilchrist who makes his 100th appearance in the black and red.

The only change in the back-row sees Hamish Watson come in for John Hardie.

On his team selection, Cockerill said: “Training has been good this week and we took great confidence from getting the result in Cardiff. We’ve put in a lot of hard work in pre-season and I think we saw the rewards of that at the weekend.

“We’ve got to keep chipping away and keep building that confidence, culture and identity in what we’re doing. It was a good start for us, but we need to get it right again tomorrow night against the Dragons to make sure we keep collecting points – getting as many as we can, as early as we can.

“I expect energy from the guys who’ve come in. They’ve worked hard and got their opportunity to play. We’ve got a strong squad and we’ve got options in a lot of positions, so for the guys coming in, I want them to bring us energy, but I also want them to fight and try and earn a spot in this team.

“Myreside is a great stadium. The guys behind the scenes have put in a lot of work to get it ready and it’s a fantastic surface for the team to play on. When people come and watch us, they’ll walk away knowing that their team has put 100 per cent commitment into the Edinburgh shirt.”

The Dragons, meanwhile, look to bounce back from their loss in the opening round against Leinster.

Full-back Zane Kirchner, who made his first competitive debut for the Dragons against the Irish province, retains his position in the back three alongside wings Ashton Hewitt and Hallam Amos. 

The centre partnership sees one change made to it as ex-Edinburgh player Sam Beard replaces Jack Dixon to play alongside Welsh international Tyler Morgan, whilst the halfbacks see Gavin Henson and Charlie Davies hold their positions. 

The front row also remains unchanged as props Brok Harris and Leon Brown are named alongside hooker Elliot Dee. However, there is one change in the second row as Rynard Landman replaces Matthew Screech, who moves to the bench, while lock Cory Hill remains in position and leads the Welsh region.

Flankers James Thomas and James Benjamin are named alongside number eight Harrison Keddie as no changes made in the back row.

Keddie played in the match against Edinburgh last season, where the Dragons were defeated narrowly to a 24-20 at Myreside. But Keddie believes that with a new set-up at the Region, it shouldn’t be the same result. 

“It’s one of those defeats that still annoys you now when you think about it," he said.

“We were in a really promising position with 10 minutes remaining and ended up losing and not really sure what had happened. But that was last year and we have a new set-up here now with new systems. Hopefully, if we are in a position like that again it won’t be the same result and we will come away with the win.”

“Edinburgh are in a new era under Richard Cockerill now and will want to lay down a marker in their first game but it’s up to us to almost do what Leinster did to us last weekend. Nullify that first 20-30 minutes when they will come at us all guns blazing and then we’ve just got to execute our correct game plan, doing what we have been coached to do and prepared for.”

The replacements bench sees the inclusion of 19-year-old Owain Leonard who is set to make his first Dragons and PRO14 appearance off the bench.

The teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Damien Hoyland, 13 Chris Dean, 12 Robbie Fruean, 11 Jason Harries, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 WP Nel, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Michele Rizzo
Replacements 16 Ross Ford, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 Simon Berghan 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Cornell du Preez, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Jason Tovey, 23 Junior Rasolea

Dragons: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Ashton Hewitt, 13 Tyler Morgan 12, Sam Beard, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Gavin Henson, 9 Charlie Davies, 8 Harrison Keddie, 7 James Benjamin, 6 James Thomas, 5 Cory Hill (c), 4 Rynard Landman, 3 Leon Brown, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Brok Harris 
Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Phil Price, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Max Williams, 21 Owain Leonard, 22 Angus O’Brien, 23 Adam Hughes

Date: Friday, September 8
Venue: Myreside Stadium, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 19:35 local (18:35 GMT)
Referee: Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Quinton Immelman (South Africa), Cwengile Jadezweni (South Africa)
TMO: Charles Sampson (Scotland)