Magners League Preview: Gameweek 2

He's back!

Three out of four wasn't bad, except that the missing piece was well within grasp. As the provinces marched to victory, Leinster collapsed in the second half against Glasgow, conceding up a huge number penalties in the process, this week however, the big boys are back.

The same cannot be said for Munster, who retain much the same line-up that handed Aironi Rugby their first defeat. The only change is the omission of second row Billy Holland. Donncha Ryan will take his position and allow Alan Quinlan to take his place in the back row.

Paul Warwick and Peter Stringer continue at half back but lying in wait are international pair Ronan O'Gara and Tomas O'Leary. Marcus Horan, John Hayes and Donncha O'Callaghan are the other big names being eased back into the action from the bench.

A win in Edinburgh would be hard fought, the southern province lost the corresponding fixture 12-7 last season, not one for the purists, with the home side winning thanks to four Chris Paterson penalties.

Leinster coach Joe Schmidt has now lost four out of four games this season, and he has named a strong team to change that. Brian O'Driscoll, Jonathan Sexton and captain Shane Jennings all come into the starting XV to give it a much more threatening look.

The elite internationals may not have been rushed back for this game had the team not coughed up a 10 point half time lead last week.

The Blues will arrive in D4 in bullish mood. Coach Dai Young had said that Welsh sides no longer fear travelling to Ireland, but as the prospect draws nearer he has taken back that statement somewhat now saying: "Anyone who starts to write the likes of Leinster and Munster off are foolish."

Ulster have the dubious honour of being the first visitors to Stadio Zaffanella. Aironi are unchanged from defeat against Munster. But at time of writing Ulster have not named their starting XV. Niall O'Conner should start in Viadana after his supreme accuracy in the 27-26 win over the Ospreys last week.

If we have learnt anything about Italian Rugby since they entered the Six Nations, it's that they start extremely strong. With that in mind, Ulster are unlucky to be the first visitors to what is sure to be a fired up Italian outfit, desperate to prove that they belonged in this league all along.

Connacht will travel to Parc y Scarlets in confidence this weekend after their 40-17 win against the Dragons last week. The only change from that side is down to the injury of Ezra Taylor, who is having surgery on his injured knee. 

Ian Keatley will add to last weeks performance which saw him overtake the record points tally for a Magners League game. The 23 year old notched  25 points, overtaking Paul Warwick's 21 point haul.

MUNSTER XV (v Edinburgh): F Jones; D Howlett, J Murphy, S Tuitupou, I Dowling; P Warwick, P Stringer; W du Preez, D Varley, T Buckley; D Ryan, M O'Driscoll; A Quinlan, N Ronan, D Leamy (capt). 

Reps: D Fogarty, M Horan, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, P O'Mahony, T O'Leary, R O'Gara, D Barnes.

LEINSTER (v Cardiff): L Fitzgerald; S Horgan, B O'Driascoll, F McFadden, I Nacewa; J Sexton, I Boss; H van der Merwe, R Strauss, M Ross, N Hines, E O'Donoghue, S O'Brien, S Jennings (capt), J Heaslip. Reps: J Fogarty, C Healy, S Shawe, M Galarza, D Ryan, E Reddan, I Madigan, E O'Malley

Ulster squad (v Aironi)Tom Court, Paddy McAllister, Bryan Young, Declan Fitzpatrick, Adam Macklin, Neil McComb, Nigel Brady, Andi Kyriacou, Johann Muller, Tim Barker, Chris Henry, Ryan Caldwell, Willie Faloon, TJ Anderson, Robbie Diack, Pedrie Wannenburg,

Adam D'Arcy, David McIlwaine, Nevin Spence, Tommy Seymour, Jonny Shiels, Darren Cave, Ian Whitten, Paddy Wallace, Ian Humphreys, Niall O'Connor, Ian Porter, Paul Marshall, Jamie Smith

Connacht XV (v Scarlets) G Duffy, T Nathan, N Ta'auso, K Matthews, F Carr, I Keatley, F Murphy (capt.) B Wilkinson, S Cronin, J Hagan, M Swift, B Upton, M McCarthy, R Ofisa, M McComish.

Reps: A Flavin, R Loughney, R Sweeney, D Nolan, S Coneely, C Willis, M Nikora, T O'Halloran