Connacht v Leinster: Teams

Leinster have named nine Ireland internationals in the starting line-up to travel to Galway for their Magners League clash against Connacht.

Ireland trio Girvan Dempsey, Trevor Hogan and Mike Ross return to the team, with Dempsey starting at full-back while Shane Horgan and Isa Nacewa remain on the wings.

Ireland 'A' back Fergus McFadden will team up with fellow former Clongowes player Gordon D'Arcy at centre, while Eoin Reddan continues his half-back partnership with Shaun Berne.

Nathan Hines has recovered from injury to return to the pack alongside Sean O'Brien and Stephen Keogh in the back-row.

Centre McFadden is keen to see Leinster maintain their current run of good form, especially with the Irish team so close to the top of the Magners League table.

Good form

"We know what to expect against Connacht because they are formidable opponents in the Sportsground and they have been in impressive form at home and away over the last few weeks," said McFadden.

"You never get an easy game in Interpro' derbies and we're under no illusions as to what kind of a challenge awaits us. From our perspective it is vital that we work on the areas that we were poor at last weekend in the win over Ulster.

"We're in our own little bubble, working away as a group, so nothing really changes for us. But I'm personally happy to be playing regularly and it gives you a lift when you're winning and we want to continue that."

Meanwhile, captain John Muldoon and hooker Sean Cronin are set to return to the Connacht starting line-up.

Both team members were rested last week to meet IRFU stipulations on overseas players.

Also returning to a reshuffled Connacht starting XV are Fionn Carr, Ian Keatley, Frank Murphy, Ronan Loughney, Robbie Morris, Mike McCarthy and Ray Ofisa.

Connacht: 15 Troy Nathan, 14 Liam Bibo, 13 Niva Ta'auso, 12 Keith Matthews, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Frank Murphy, 1 Ronan Loughney, 2 Sean Cronin, 3 Robbie Morris, 4 Mike McCarthy, 5 Bernie Upton, 6 John Muldoon (capt), 7 Ray Ofisa, 8 George Naoupu.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Jamie Hagan, 18 Michael Swift, 19 Andrew Browne, 20 Conor O'Loughlin, 21 Miah Nikora, 22 Aidan Wynne.

Leinster: 15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Fergus McFadden, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Isa Nacewa, 10 Shaun Berne, 9 Eoin Reddan, 1 Stan Wright, 2 Bernard Jackman, 3 Mike Ros, 4 Leo Cullen (capt), 5 Trevor Hogan, 6 Nathan Hines, 7 Sean O'Brien, 8 Stephen Keogh.
Replacements (from): 16 Richard Strauss, 17 Ronan McCormack, 18 Devin Toner, 19 Kevin McLaughlin, 20 Paul Ryan, 21 Paul O'Donohoe, 22 Simon Keogh, 23 David Kearney.