Luke Fitzgerald starts for Leinster as Matt O’Connor makes 10 changes

Only Jordi Murphy retained in the pack as Madigan and Rob Kearney fit for The Stoop

Luke Fitzgerald has been named in the Leinster side to play Harlequins at The Stoop on Sunday, with coach Matt O’Connor making 10 changes to his starting line up
Luke Fitzgerald has been named in the Leinster side to play Harlequins at The Stoop on Sunday, with coach Matt O’Connor making 10 changes to his starting line up

Leinster coach Matt O'Connor has named a strong line up for Sunday's trip to The Stoop to play Harlequins, making 10 changes in total from the side which beat the Ospreys 18-12 in the Pro12 last Friday.

Luke Fitzgerald has been passed fit to play after pulling out in the lead up to the Pro12 game against Treviso when he was due to make his return from a hip injury, while Ian Madigan has recovered from an ankle injury sufficiently enough to start in the centre.

Having followed return to play protocols following a head injury Rob Kearney is also named in the starting XV, while brother Dave has been ruled out with a hip problem.

Seven Leinster changes come in the pack, with only Jordi Murphy retained from last Friday's win.

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Jack McGrath, Sean Cronin and Mike Ross have all returned from international duty to form a new frontrow, with Mike McCarthy and Devin Toner making up the rest of the tight five.

Jamie Heaslip returns to skipper the side from number eight while Rhys Ruddock starts at blindside and Murphy makes his first European start of the season.

Behind them, Eoin Reddan and Jimmy Gopperth are retained at half-back, while Madigan will partner Gordon D'Arcy in midfield.

Darragh Fanning takes up the last spot in the back three and is the only Leinster player who has started and finished every game this season.

Dominic Ryan and Dave Kearney have both missed out on selection after pulling up with injuries during training on Tuesday, but neither are thought to be long term concerns.

LEINSTER: 15 R. Kearney 14 Fanning 13 D’Arcy 12 Madigan 11 Fitzgerald 10 Gopperth 9 Reddan 1 McGrath 2 Cronin 3 Ross 4 Toner 5 McCarthy 6 Ruddock 7 Murphy 8 Heaslip (Captain)

Replacements: 16 Byrne 17 Bent 18 Furlong 19 Douglas 20 Conan 21 Boss 22 Reid 23 Kirchner

HARLEQUINS: 15 Brown 14 Yarde 13 Hopper 12 Lowe 11 Tikoirotuma 10 Evans 9 Care 1 Marler (Captain) 2 Ward 3 Collier 4 Matthews 5 Robson 6 Wallace 7 Robshaw 8 Easter

Replacements: 16 Gray 17 Lambert 18 Sinckler 19 Twomey 20 Clifford 21 Dickson 22 Swiel 23 Casson

Patrick Madden

Patrick Madden

Patrick Madden is a former sports journalist with The Irish Times