Prendergast, Osborne, O'Brien and Connors all start for Leinster
Jamie Osborne is back into the LEinster starting lineup to face the Lions on Saturday. Photo: INPHO/Grace Halton.
Leo Cullen has named four Kildare men in his starting XV and another on the bench as Leinster host the Lions tomorrow evening at the Aviva.
Sam Prendergast has gotten the nod at fly half, with Jamie Osborne at inside centre, Jimmy O'Brien on the left wing and Will Connors at openside flanker. Diarmuid Mangan is back from three months on the sideline through injury and takes his place among the replacements.
The game will have massive implications on the URC playoffs, with Leinster and the Lions each vying for a home quarter-final.
Leinster currently sit in fourth place, one spot behind the Lions, with both sides on 53 points and separated by points difference alone, with Leinster needing to make up a 23-point difference to overtake their South African counterparts.
Victory for either side could see them climb all the way to the top of the table depending on results elsewhere, while defeat could see either side dropping as low as seventh.
That would leave them in a precarious position with just one game remaining after this weekend in the URC's round robin.
The 'race for the eight' is as finely poised as it has ever been in the competition's history and culminates next weekend, with Leinster at home to the Ospreys, who are already out of contention, while the Lions travel to Limerick to face a Munster side who could be above them in the table by then.
Ciarán Frawley; Joshua Kenny, Rieko Ioane, Jamie Osborne, Jimmy O’Brien; Sam Prendergast, Luke McGrath; Ed Byrne, John McKee, Thomas Clarkson; Brian Deeny, James Ryan; Max Deegan, Will Connors, James Culhane.
Dan Sheehan, Andrew Porter, Rabah Slimani, Diarmuid Mangan, Scott Penny, Fintan Gunne, Hugh Cooney, Hugo Keenan.
Leinster A Head Coach, Simon Broughton, has named four Kildare men in his squad to face Ulster A tomorrow afternoon in Energia Park.
Ciaran Mangan starts at inside centre with Andrew Osborne on the left wing - each of who will be keen to get in front of a TV in time to see their elder brothers in action at 5.30.
Kildare's Sean Walsh (lock) and Tadhg Brophy (scrum half) have also been named among the replacements.
The game is part of the IRFU Interprovincial ‘A’ Championship, with plenty of fresh new faces set to get their opportunity to impress their coaches.
Hugo McLaughlin; Henry McErlean, Jack Deegan, Ciaran Mangan, Andrew Osborne; Caspar Gabriel, Cormac Foley; Alex Mullan, Stephen Smyth, Andrew Sparrow; Conor O'Tighearnaigh, Mahon Ronan; Billy Corrigan, Inigo Cruise-O’Brien, Josh Ericson.
Rian Handley, Max Doyle, Niall Smyth, Artur Symkovskiy, Sean Walsh, Tadhg Brophy, Tom Larke, Johnny O’Sullivan, Charlie Molony, Paddy Moore.
