Cullen names five Kildare men in his 23 to battle the Bulls tomorrow evening
Sam Prendergast, one of five Kildare men named in Leo Cullen's 23 as Leinster take on the Bulls tomorrow in South Africa. Photo: ©INPHO/Steve Haag Sports/EJ Langner
Five Kildare players have been named in the Leinster 23 as the province prepares for their second game in this season's BTK United Rugby Championship this weekend.
Defending champions Leinster take on the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, on Saturday (October 4) with kick-off at 5.30pm (Irish time). Live coverage of the game is available on Premier Sports.
The Kildare contingent sees Sam Prendergast is back in the number 10 jersey, Jimmy O'Brien returns at full back, Andrew Osborne starts on the wing, while Will Connors is the only Kildare man in the pack where he starts in the back row. Diarmuid Mangan will also provide cover on the bench.
It will be a second consecutive start for both Prendergast and O'Brien, while Osborne will make his first appearance of the season.
Connors started from the bench last week and earned a promotion to the starting XV, while Mangan is the inverse of that, moving from the starting second row against the Stormers to the bench against the Bulls.
Leo Cullen's side could not have imagined a worse start to their campaign than last week's 35-0 drubbing at the hands of the Stormers.
But Leinster's start to the season will get no easier when their mini tour of South Africa brings them to Pretoria, home of the Bulls side who lost out to Leinster in last year's URC final.
The two clubs have developed a serious rivalry since the South African teams joined the competition, with the Bulls announcing themselves as a URC powerhouse in their very first season when they beat Leinster at the RDS in the 2022 URC semi-finals.
Jimmy O’Brien; Tommy O’Brien, Hugh Cooney, Robbie Henshaw, Andrew Osborne; Sam Prendergast, Luke McGrath; Paddy McCarthy, Gus McCarthy, Thomas Clarkson; Brian Deeny, Ryan Baird; Alex Soroka, Will Connors, Max Deegan.
John McKee, Jack Boyle, Rabah Slimani, Diarmuid Mangan, Scott Penny, James Culhane, Fintan Gunne, Ciarán Frawley.
Leinster will play their first home game next week in a third consecutive game against South African opposition when they welcome the Sharks to Aviva Stadium next Saturday.
