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Leinster v Leicester Tigers: All you need to know

Leinster v Leicester Tigers is live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, with coverage getting under way at 7.35pm on Friday night
Leinster v Leicester Tigers is live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, with coverage getting under way at 7.35pm on Friday night

A repeat of last year's quarter-final, which could lead to a repeat of last year's semi.

The last Irish team standing will look to go one step closer to a home final, with Leinster hosting the two-time champions Leicester Tigers at the Aviva Stadium.

Last May, the Tigers were easily disposed of by Leo Cullen's side in the last eight, first-quarter tries from Josh van der Flier and Robbie Henshaw putting them on their way, and while the English side did rally in the second half, they never looked like mounting a real comeback.

With home advantage, Leinster are big favourites to do similar to the Premiership champions, and set up a potential semi-final repeat against Toulouse, who are expected to do the business at home to the Cell C Sharks.

With capacity of the Aviva Stadium reduced to 27,000 because of the short turnaround between games, Lansdowne Road won't be hopping to the same degree as last week's sold-out ground, but the Good Friday crowd should provide more than enough atmosphere to give the home side an advantage.

Saturday's 30-15 win against Ulster was a 20th victory of the season in just 21 games for Leinster, the only blemish being the 22-22 draw with the Stormers a couple of weeks back.

And with most of this week's line-up set to remain in Dublin for the next couple of weeks, while a mix of wider squad players and academy prospects travel to South Africa for the two remaining URC games, Leo Cullen will send out a fully loaded team.

Leicester, meanwhile, will have one eye on their Premiership meeting with Exeter next week, as they look to secure their spot in the playoffs.

TV

Leinster v Leicester Tigers is live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, with coverage getting under way at 7.35pm on Friday night. La Rochelle v Saracens (Sunday 3pm) is live on ITV, with all four matches available on BT Sport.

RADIO

Listen to live commentary of Leinster v Leicester on RTÉ Radio 1.

ONLINE

You can follow live updates on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app along with report and reaction from the grounds.

WEATHER

After last week's torrential weather, it looks like a promising forecast for Friday night in Dublin, with no rain expected. It's forecast to be around 9C by kick-off, with winds of around 10-15km/hr.

It's a 13th meeting of the sides in the Champions Cup, but only the third time they've renewed rivalries since the 2009 final at Murrayfield, which Leinster won 19-16 to lift the trophy for the very first time.

In last season's meeting at Welford Road, the Tigers' only area of dominance was at the scrum, but having lost Ellis Genge to Bristol over the summer, they've taken a backwards step at the set-piece this team, with just an 83.3% success rate on their own ball, in comparison to Leicester's 93.3%.

Leinster's set-piece overall has been a major strength, with a 94% rating on their own lineout ball, while Dan Sheehan record of 14 out of 14 throws last week was all the more impressive considering the conditions.

It's no surprise to see the four-time champions leading the way across the metrics. With an average of just over six tries and 42 points pre game, they're top of the charts for points, tries, carries, clean breaks, and defenders beaten.

To counteract that, expect Leicester to kick a lot. Richard Wigglesworth's side have kicked an average of 31 times per game, considerably more than Leinster's 23, a figure which was largely inflated by last week's rain-soaked meeting with Ulster.

Leinster make two changes from last week's win, with Caelan Doris and Garry Ringrose both restored to the side. Doris comes in for a first start at openside flanker in the absence of Josh van der Flier, while Ringrose makes his first appearance since suffering a nasty head injury in Ireland's Six Nations win against Scotland four weeks ago. His inclusion sees Jimmy O'Brien shift out to the right wing, while Jordan Larmour drops out of the matchday 23.

Leicester, meanwhile, have made four changes, and several positional switches from last week's win in Edinburgh.

Veteran full-back Mike Brown comes in, as does former Ireland U20 centre Dan Kelly, while in the pack tighthead prop Joe Heyes and number 8 Jasper Wiese are both recalled.

There's also a start at loosehead for former Munster prop James Cronin (below), while Freddie Steward starts on the wing, returning to the Aviva Stadium three weeks on from his red card against Ireland.

Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Jimmy O'Brien, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Ross Molony, James Ryan (capt); Ryan Baird, Caelan Doris, Jack Conan.

Replacements: John McKee, Cian Healy, Michael Ala'alatoa, Jason Jenkins, Scott Penny, Luke McGrath, Harry Byrne, Ciarán Frawley.

Leicester Tigers: Mike Brown; Anthony Watson, Harry Potter, Dan Kelly, Freddie Steward; Handré Pollard, Jack van Poortvliet; James Cronin, Julián Montoya (capt), Joe Heyes; George Martin, Cameron Henderson; Hanro Liebenberg, Tommy Reffell, Jasper Wiese.

Replacements: Charlie Clare, Tom West, Dan Cole, Eli Snyman, Olly Cracknell, Sam Wolstenholme, Charlie Atkinson, Jimmy Gopperth.

Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)


LAST 3 MEETINGS

Leicester Tigers 14-23 Leinster - 7 May 2023, Welford Road (Champions Cup quarter-final)

Leinster 17-10 Leicester Tigers - 9 April 2011, Aviva Stadium (Champions Cup quarter-final)

Leicester Tigers 16-19 Leinster - 23 May 2009, Murrayfield (Champions Cup final)



Meanwhile, the final four of the Challenge Cup will also be confirmed this weekend.

Scarlets host Clermont Auvergne in the first of the quarter-finals on Friday at 8pm, with the winner set to take on either Glasgow Warriors or the Emirates Lions, who meet on Saturday at 8pm.

Toulon host Lyon in an all-French tie at 12.30pm on Saturday, while whoever comes through will go up against either Benetton or Cardiff (Saturday 3pm) in the next round.

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