Leinster Rugby will go into their Heineken Cup quarter-final dress-rehearsal against arch-rivals Munster Rugby with nine of the starting line-up from last season's European triumph at the Millennium Stadium.
The game at Thomond Park, Limerick, on Saturday night will be a landmark occasion for centre Gordon D'Arcy as he makes his 200th appearance for the Province and he will have his long standing midfield partner for club, country and the British & Irish Lions, Brian O'Driscoll, alongside him.
D'Arcy will become only the second Leinster player to reach the 200 game milestone and will do so at the end of a week in which the first man to make it, Shane Horgan, announced his retirement through injury. The 32-year-old D'Arcy made his debut away to Edinburgh in September, 1998, and has scored 306 points and 55 tries in Blue.
Luke Fitzgerald, one of six starters behind the scrum from last Mays Heineken Cup final triumph in Cardiff, will become the 18th Leinster player to play 100 games, while New Zealand's 2011 Rugby World Cup winner Brad Thorn will get his second taste of first-team action after making his debut in last weekend's PRO12 defeat at home against the Ospreys.
Leinster coach Joe Schmidt has been able to recall Irish stars D'Arcy, Rob Kearney, Jonathan Sexton, Eoin Reddan, Mike Ross, Devin Toner, Kevin McLaughlin, Shane Jennings and Jamie Heaslip, with the latter leading the side for a game that sees the top two teams in the PRO12 going head-to-head.
Reigning ERC European Player of the Year Sean O'Brien joins fit-again skipper Leo Cullen and Cian healy among the replacements for a game in which Schmidt will be hoping to see his team return to winning ways ahead of their Heineken Cup quarter-final against Cardiff Blues at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, 7 April.
Leinster: Rob Kearney; Isa Nacewa, Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald; Jonathan Sexton, Eoin Reddan; Heinke van der Merwe, Sean Cronin, Mike Ross, Brad Thorn, Devin Toner, Kevin McLaughlin,
Shane Jennings, Jamie Heaslip (captain)
Replacements: Richardt Strauss, Cian Healy, Jamie Hagan, Leo Cullen, Sean O'Brien, Isaac Boss, Ian Madigan, Fergus McFadden
