Leinster and Ulster name teams for play-off semi-final

Chris Henry is set for his 150th appearance for Ulster.

Leinster and Ulster name teams for play-off semi-final

Ulster have named an unchanged squad for tomorrow night’s PRO12 play-off semi-final while opponents Leinster make just one change to their starting XV.

Chris Henry is set for his 150th appearance for Ulster and will be joined in the back row by Iain Henderson and Sean Reidy.

Captain Rory Best, Callum Black and Ricky Lutton continue in the front row, with second rows Pete Browne and Franco van der Merwe completing the pack.

Ruan Pienaar and Paddy Jackson are again named at halfback, with Stuart McCloskey and Luke Marshall making up the midfield partnership. Craig Gilroy, Andrew Trimble and Jared Payne are selected in the back three.

The only change to Leinster is as a result of injury; Rob Kearney has failed to recover sufficiently from an ankle injury in time to play a part in the game.

Luke Fitzgerald comes in on the left wing.
Luke Fitzgerald comes in on the left wing.

As a result Luke Fitzgerald returns to the left wing with Isa Nacewa captaining the side from full back. Dave Kearney moves across to the right wing.

Ben Te'o and Garry Ringrose are Cullen's centre pairing for the 12th time this season as Te'o starts for his last time in the RDS before his summer move to the Premiership.

At half back Eoin Reddan and Johnny Sexton start as Sexton makes his 125th appearance for the province. The St. Mary's man has scored 1,110 points to date and is in second place on the all time point scorers list with Felipe Contepomi on top with 1,225.

Jack McGrath, Richardt Strauss and Mike Ross are once again selected to start in the front row. Behind them Devin Toner and Mick Kearney start in the second row with Rhys Ruddock, Jordi Murphy and Jamie Heaslip completing the pack.

Leinster v Ulster in the RDS on Friday May 20 - kick-off 7.45pm.

Leinster team: 15. Isa Nacewa - capt., 14. Dave Kearney, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Ben Te'o, 11. Luke Fitzgerald, 10. Johnny Sexton, 9. Eoin Reddan; 1. Jack McGrath, 2. Richard Strauss, 3. Mike Ross, 4. Devin Toner, 5. Mick Kearney, 6. Rhys Ruddock, 7. Jordi Murphy, 8. Jamie Heaslip.

Replacements: Sean Cronin, Peter Dooley, Tadhg Furlong, 19. Ross Molony, 20. Jack Conan, 21. Luke McGrath, 22. Ian Madigan, 23. Zane Kirchner.

Ulster team: (15. J Payne, 14. A Trimble,13. L Marshall,12. S McCloskey, 11. C Gilroy; 10. P Jackson, 9. R Pienaar; 1. C Black, 2. R Best - capt., 3. R Lutton, 4. P Browne, 5. F van der Merwe, 6. I Henderson, 7. C Henry, 8. S Reidy.

Replacements: R Herring, K McCall, A Warwick, R Diack, R Wilson, P Marshall, S Olding, D Cave.

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