Leinster recall stars for Champions Cup semi with Northampton

Leinster vs. Northampton in the Investec Champions Cup semi-final

Date: Saturday, May 3rd, Kick-off: 17:30 BST

Caelan Doris and Sam Prendergast were both replaced by Ireland in the Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton Saints, and Leinster made a number of other changes.

In contrast to their Premiership win over Bristol Bears, Saints only changed with the return of prop Trevor Davison, who is the only survivor of veteran prop Cian Healy’s only other survivor.

At Aviva Stadium, Ireland’s James Lowe and scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park will take the starting lineup, while the eighth-ranked Doris will lead the team. Jordie Barrett, a World Cup winner for New Zealand, is designated as the bench.

Tommy Freeman and Fin Smith, England wing, and fly-half Fin Smith will join them in Dublin for what has been billed as a head-to-head audition for selection for this summer’s British and Irish Lions tour to Australia.

Both fly-halves put on impressive performances in the quarter-final, with Ireland’s Prendergast and England’s Smith both scoring well as Saints beat Castres.

Full-back George Furbank, who has been sidelined since December, is the visitors’ notable absentee. Furbank made a try-winning return from injury in their win over Castres before suffering a setback with an arm injury that had kept him out since December.

Leinster, the four-time champions of 1999-2000, and Northampton, the champions of 1999-2000, renew their European rivalry, which saw them meet at the same time as the competition last year.

England flanker Henry Pollock adds to his remarkable breakthrough season by starting in his first European semi-final, a year after watching the game at Croke Park last year in fancy dress as a supporter.

Saints, who won the trophy in 2000, are confident of making it to the first Champions Cup final since the Irish province defeated them in the 2011 showpiece.

Leinster have a very different side to what they were, which doesn’t help the situation much, but I want to assure us that we won’t be overjoyed by the circumstance.

“Many of our squad has played in significant international competitions in front of large crowds with a lot of weight on them,” said coach Steve Smith. “Hopefully all that experience will help us.”

We must treat them with respect, which is obviously a real challenge, but we won’t bow down. We’ll take a look at the progress made. I’m looking forward to playing this game because it should be fantastic.

Replacements: Barrett, Porter, Kelleher, Porter, Slimani, Baird, Conan, McGrath, R Byrne, and Barrett.

Ramm, Freeman, Dingwall (capt), Hutchinson, Litchfield, Smith, Mitchell, Iyogun, Langdon, Davison, Mayanavanua, Coles, Kemeny, Pollock, Augustus, Northampton Saints.

Walker, West, Millar Mills, Lockett, Munga, Scott-Young, James, Seabrook, and others.