Leinster v Dragons: Teams
Leinster have made four changes in the backs for Friday's RaboDirect PRO12 clash with the Dragons at the RDS.
Last Updated: 08/09/11 5:30pm
Leinster have reshuffled their backs division for the RaboDirect PRO12 clash with the Dragons at the RDS on Friday.
Cillian Willis and Ian Madigan form the half-back partnership as Mat Berquist and John Cooney drop to the bench.
Brendan Macken starts at centre alongside Eoin O'Malley in a new midfield pairing in the absence of Luke Fitzgerald. The pack is unchanged with Ireland international Rhys Ruddock again captaining the side.
A decision on the final place on the replacements bench will be made closer to the match, with new recruit Nathan White bracketed.
Three changes have been made to the Dragons squad that lost to Munster last week, with Ashley Smith (hamstring) and Tom Brown (dead leg) missing out.
"It's purely precautionary. We're at that point of the season where we pretty much have a full fit squad so we're just resting these guys and making sure," head coach Darren Edwards said.
Full-back Jamie Smith is set to make his PRO12 debut for the Dragons after being named on the bench.
Dragons flanker Coombs is in a confident mood as the Welsh outfit return to Ireland for the second match of the season after the defeat to Munster.
He said: "It's not the ideal start, but it's one we're looking forward to. I think we've taken a lot of confidence from Munster and the boys are really confident that we could pick up a win out there.
"I don't think Leinster would have been too happy with their performance against the Ospreys and they'll probably want to put things right this weekend, so it'll be a good game."
Leinster: 15 Isa Nacewa, 14 Fionn Carr, 13 Brendan Macken, 12 Eoin O'Malley, 11 David Kearney, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Cillian Willis, 8 Rhys Ruddock (c), 7 Dominic Ryan, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Damian Browne, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Aaron Dundon, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Jack O'Connell/ Nathan White, 19 Mark Flanagan, 20 Leo Auva'a, 21 John Cooney, 22 Mat Berquist, 23 Darren Hudson.
Dragons: 15 Martyn Thomas, 14 Adam Hughes, 13 Tom Riley, 12 Pat Leach, 11 Mike Poole, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Joe Bedford, 8 Hugo Ellis 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Andrew Coombs, 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Adam Jones, 3 Ben Castle, 2 Tom Willis, 1 Phil Price.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Nathan Williams, 18 Dan Way, 19 Lewis Evans, 20 Jevon Groves, 21 Wayne Evans, 22 Steffan Jones, 23 Jamie Smith
