Leinster have dropped Ireland captain Caelan Doris to the bench in a surprising move ahead of the Investec Champions Cup quarter-final on Friday.
The number eight started their round-of-16 match against Harlequins last weekend but he has been selected among the replacements for their match with Glasgow Warriors.
That means Jack Conan has shifted from blindside flanker to take Doris’ spot with Max Deegan coming into the back-row. Josh van der Flier completes the loose trio.
Such is the depth of the Leinster squad, whoever they pick will do an outstanding job, but they evidently don’t think Doris, Dan Sheehan, Andrew Porter and Robbie Henshaw, who are three others to be rotated, are required from the start.
Ronan Kelleher has returned from an injury suffered in the Six Nations to take Sheehan’s place and he is joined in the front-row by Tadhg Furlong, who is easing his way back after an injury-disrupted campaign, and Cian Healy.
Joe McCarthy and RG Snyman continue at lock with James Ryan still absent while behind the scrum Jordie Barrett comes in at centre.
Another Ireland star on the bench
Barrett partners Garry Ringrose in the midfield, which means Henshaw has to make do with a place on the bench.
There is one other alteration in the backline as Tommy O’Brien comes in for Jamie Osborne and he partners Hugo Keenan and James Lowe in the back three.
With the changes made, it is therefore an incredibly strong bench with Rabah Slimani joining Porter and Sheehan as the front-row replacements.
Diarmuid Mangan and Doris provide the other forward cover, while Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne and Henshaw are the backline replacements.
Meanwhile, Glasgow have kept changes to a minimum following their previous Champions Cup knockout success with most of theirs enforced.
Up front, Henco Venter’s ban for making contact with the eye area of England prop Dan Cole has seen Sione Vailanu shift to number eight. As a result, Rory Darge comes in at openside to complete a loose trio that also includes Matt Fagerson.
In the front five, the Warriors have suffered a huge blow as Scotland star Zander Fagerson will miss the encounter after developing concussion symptoms following their win over Leicester Tigers.
Sam Talakai is therefore promoted from the bench and joins Johnny Matthews and Nathan McBeth in the front-row.
There is also a change at lock – this time tactical – as Alex Samuel comes in to partner Gregor Brown, with JP du Preez dropping down to the replacements.
Glasgow are unchanged behind the scrum, however, with Kyle Rowe, Jamie Dobie and Kyle Steyn the back three partnership.
Tom Jordan and Stafford McDowall once again combine at centre with George Horne and Adam Hastings continuing at half-back.
The teams
Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Max Deegan, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Andrew Porter, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Diarmuid Mangan, 20 Caelan Doris, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Robbie Henshaw
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Jamie Dobie, 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Kyle Steyn (c), 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 Sam Talakai, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Nathan McBeth
Replacements: 16 Grant Stewart, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Patrick Schickerling, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Max Williamson, 21 Euan Ferrie, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Sebastian Cancelliere
Date: Friday, April 11
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 20:00 local (19:00 GMT)
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe (England), Adam Leal (England)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (England)
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