| Date:Saturday, September 7 Kick-off: 17:30 BST Venue: Mattioli Woods Welford Road |
| Coverage: Live commentary online and on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra. |
Ollie Chessum makes a return at lock as Leicester make a change to their starting lineup for the Champions Cup quarterfinal meeting with Leinster, four-time champions.
Chessum was banned for a high tackleIn the win over Clermont auvergne in round 1.
George Ford and Ben Youngs make a great half-back team.
Josh Murphy was replaced by James Ryan in Leinster’s sole change since the 56-20 win over Connacht in the second-leg.
Lock Ryan will play his first match since being compelled to leave. with a head injury in Ireland’s Six Nations win over England on 12 March.
Leinster’s starting team includes 10 of 15 players who were part of Ireland’s Triple Crown victory over Scotland.
Hugo Keenan started against the Scots along with Garry Ringrose, James Lowe and Captain Johnny Sexton. Half-back partner Jamison Gil-Park was also on the field.
Leinster’s pack had hooker Ronan Kelleher as a prop and Tadhg Furlong as back-row trio Caelan, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
Andrew Porter, a loosehead prop, will be starting at Welford Road, just like Ryan. He missed the Scotland match because of injury. Robbie Henshaw, a British and Irish Lions centre, will also be joining the Leinster team.
Leicester has a host of internationals, with Ellis Genge from England and Freddie Steward from England joining Springbok number eight Jasper Wiese as the starters.
This is Leicester’s first appearance for the club’s top competition in Europe, which has been running for six years.
They lost that campaign to Racing 92 and were eliminated in the semi-finals. Racing 92 could be their opponent in the final four of this season’s championships, if Sale is defeated.
Leinster reached the final four times in the preceding decade. However, they lost their last two United Rugby Championship matches. Most of their senior players decided to skip the trip to South Africa, where they had a play-off spot.
After being defeated by Harlequins in the Premiership, Leicester emerged victorious. with a convincing win over Bristol last time out.
They said it!
Leicester head coach Steve Borthwick: “Leinster is a top side with world-class players. They have a great understanding between their players and how they play.
“This is a group who have been together a long while, played a lot rugby together for Leinster as well as at international level with Ireland.
“It will be a tremendous challenge, but it is a great opportunity for me against a team with their quality and what an amazing test.”
Leinster senior coach Stuart Lancaster: “Leicester have probably the highest quality position in any international league, in my opinion. It’s similar to our team. They are able to count on a large number of highly-skilled players. This is going to be a special European game.
Match stats
- Leinster has won five of six Champions Cup quarter-final matches, including beating Exeter 34-22.
- After previously losing four consecutive fixtures, Leicester has won three of the Champions Cup’s last four knockout stages fixtures.
- James Lowe from Leinster is the Champions Cup’s top scorer this season (8), while Jamison Gil-Park, Ross Byrne and Hugo Keenan made the most try assists this year.
Line-ups
Leicester Tigers: Steward; Ashton, Moroni, Porter, Potter; Ford, Youngs; Genge (capt), Montoya, Cole, Chessum, Green, Liebenberg, Reffell, Wiese.
Replacements: Dolly, Whitcombe, Heyes, Wells, Martin, Wigglesworth, Burns, Nadolo.
Leinster: Keenan; J O’Brien, Ringrose, Henshaw, Lowe; Sexton (capt), Gibson-Park; Porter, Kelleher, Furlong, Molony, Ryan, Doris, Van der Flier, Conan.
Replacements: Sheehan, Healy, Ala’Alatoa, McCarthy, Ruddock, McGrath, R Byrne, T O’Brien.
