European Rugby Champions Cup: Leinster v Harlequins preview

Harlequins will look to tighten their grip of Pool Two in the European Rugby Champions Cup on Saturday when they face Leinster for the second time in as many weeks at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.

Tries from veteran forward Nick Easter and winger Asaeli Tikoirotuma saw Aviva Premiership side Harlequins clinch a 24-18 victory over a try-less Leinster at The Stoop last weekend.

In their first meeting since the notorious ‘Bloodgate’ affair of 2009, Harlequins kept their perfect European record intact to move three points clear at the Pool Two summit and a repeat result in the Irish capital will see the Londoners well on their way to the quarter-finals.

Matt O’Connor hailed the exploits of Easter, the Leinster head coach claiming “it was probably the best Nick Easter has played in 25 years”, but he will be less concerned with the threat posed by Quins as his side’s lack of scoring power.

Three-time champions of Europe Leinster relied on the boot of Ian Madigan for 18 of their points at The Stoop and O’Connor will hope his experienced squad prove their worth to turn up the heat for the hosts this time around.

Following their London reverse, O’Connor has made four personnel changes in a bid to rescue their Champions Cup campaign in Dublin.

Dominic Ryan, Kane Douglas, Isaac Boss and Zane Kirchner are selected from the start and there are also two positional switches on the back of those changes.

Experience

Boss makes his 109th appearance for Leinster having come off the bench last weekend and he partners Jimmy Gopperth in the half-backs.

Outside of the axis pairing Ian Madigan retains the No 12 jersey with Luke Fitzgerald switching from the left wing to outside centre in place of Gordon D'Arcy, who was not able to shake off a slight calf injury.

As a result of Fitzgerald switching to the centre, Darragh Fanning swaps wings and will start on the left with Kirchner getting the nod at No 14, while Rob Kearney resumes at full-back.

Douglas comes in to the second row to partner Devin Toner, while Ryan has shaken off his quad injury to take his place at openside flanker with Rhys Ruddock and Jamie Heaslip completing the pack.

Meanwhile, Harlequins director of rugby Conor O’Shea has been forced into making two changes to his starting XV, with England captain Chris Robshaw and influential fly-half Nick Evans both ruled out through injury.

Robshaw sustained a shoulder injury at The Stoop last weekend and is set to face up to four weeks on the sidelines, but the club has confirmed he will not require surgery.

The flanker’s absence means youngster Jack Clifford will join Easter and Luke Wallace in the back three, while Tim Swiel comes in to replace former All Black Evans at No 10.

Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney; 14 Zane Kirchner, 13 Luke Fitzgerald, 12 Ian Madigan, 11 Darragh Fanning; 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Isaac Boss; 1 Jack McGrath, 2 Sean Cronin, 3 Mike Ross, 4 Devin Toner, 5 Kane Douglas, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 7 Dominic Ryan, 8 Jamie Heaslip (capt)
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Michael Bent, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Mike McCarthy, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Mick McGrath

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown; 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 George Lowe, 11 Aseli Tikoirotuma; 10 Tim Swiel, 9 Danny Care; 1 Joe Marler (capt), 2 Dave Ward, 3 Will Collier; 4 Charlie Matthews, 5 George Robson; 6 Luke Wallace, 7 Jack Clifford, 8 Nick Easter
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Sam Twomey, 20 Joe Trayfoot, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Tom Casson, 23 Ross Chisholm