‘We are looking forward to testing ourselves against Leinster’
THIS St David’s Day Cardiff Rugby Club are travelling to Dublin to take on BKT United Rugby Championship leaders, Leinster.
The game will be the first for Cardiff without Matt Sherratt since he took charge of the Wales national team.
“We have prepared well this week, and we are just looking forward to testing ourselves at the Aviva,” said Gethin Jenkins, who is standing in as coach with Corniel van Zyl while Sherratt is away.
“As coaches we are pleased with some of the character we have shown so far this season, but as a group we are determined to fight through the second-half and build on our league position.”
Cardiff currently sit in sixth place in the URC, which makes them the highest placed Welsh region in the competition.
Cardiff’s XV sees four changes from their last game, against Connacht, as Rory Thornton makes his first start of the season.
The full Cardiff squad is:
Cam Winnett, Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Rey Lee-Lo, Rory Jennings, Harri Millard, Callum Sheedy, Johan Mulder, Danny Southworth, Liam Belcher (C), Rhys Litterick, Josh McNally, Rory Thornton, Ben Donnell, Thomas Young, Alun Lawrence
Replacements
Efan Daniel, Rhys Barratt, Will Davies-King, Seb Davies, Alex Mann, Ellis Bevan, Tinus du Beer, Regan Grace
Their opponents, Leinster, are unbeaten this season. And even without their wealth of Irish national team players, they are still a very daunting prospect.
World cup winner RG Snyman lines up on the bench at 19, all-black centre Jordie Barrett is once again absent from the Dublin based squad.
The Leinster starting XV is:
Jimmy O’Brien, Tommy O’Brien, Hugh Cooney, Charlie Tector, Andrew Osborne, Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath, Jack Boyle, John McKee, Rabah Slimani, Diarmuid Mangan, Brian Deeny, Alex Soroka, Will Connors, Max Deegan
Replacements
Stephen Smyth, Ivan Soroka, Rory McGuire, RG Snyman, Scott Penny, Oliver Coffey, Liam Turner, Rob Russell
“Leinster have played 15 games this season and have 15 wins. The challenge for us is creating belief in our squad that we can go there and put them under pressure,” said Jenkins.
“The Ospreys showed last week, as well as Connacht and the Dragons earlier in the season, that you can compete against them. They are missing their Ireland players, but they are a very strong team.
“The challenge for us is creating the belief and having real clarity in what we do to give us the best chance of performing on the weekend.”
- Kick-off at is 3pm on Saturday, March 1 in the Aviva Stadium
