Tadhg Furlong is back from injury and will start for Leinster against La Rochelle on Sunday at the Stade Marcel Deflandre (KO: 4.15pm local time, 3.15pm Irish).
Great news for Ireland ahead of their Six Nations opener against England at the Aviva on February 1st.
Meanwhile, Leo Cullen has added front-row interest to Furlong’s good news by picking Cian Healy to join him in the starting lineup.
In addition, he has benched Beauden Barrett, RG Snyman, and Rabah Slimani.
*Healy’s start raises the potential that he will play the first 20/30 minutes, with Andrew Porter going on for the last hour. This follows Paul Boyle’s start against Munster and his substitution after 22 minutes.
*According to expectation (or suspected IRFU order, depending on who you believe), none of the NIEs (Non-Irish Eligible) players Beauden Barrett, RG Snyman, or Rabah Slimani will start European matches unless there are significant injuries.
*Andrew Osborne, Jimmy, and Tommy O’Brien form the back three because Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, and Jordan Larmour are unavailable.
Head Coach Leo Cullen noted that he was impressed with the way the Boyle/Porter swap worked against Munster in the 22nd minute, as well as how well the Leinster fans understood the concept.
“We tried this with Jack Boyle the other week, and it was great that people noticed what we did,” Cullen said of the La Rochelle selection process.
“We had a talk with Jack, Andrew, and Cian, who was in as a tighthead for that game, since it was something we just wanted to check into.
“I thought things went well during the game. We had already discussed the possibility of the swap waiting until halftime.
“At the time, it was also about getting that top-end-type player on the field in the first half because everyone was a little ‘whooooa’ after we got a yellow card.
“If you think about how the following ten minutes played out, it was the best-case scenario, and everyone needs to understand where it belongs in the team. Andrew is quite unusual in a positive manner; he can play 80 minutes with ease, but we want to see what his influence can be.”
The Leinster squad has 12 possible 2025 Six Nations starts, including Healy and Porter, with the back three being the odd ones out.
Andrew Osborne gets a chance to shine in place of the injured Hugo Keenan, but both O’Briens start because Larmour and Lowe are sidelined.
“Jordan Larmour suffered an injury during training this week and will struggle to make the first Six Nations call-up week.
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