Munster and Leinster return to European action and the novel concept of the Heineken Champions Cup last-16 two-legged ties in contrasting fashion after Leo Cullen’s side cemented their place atop the United Rugby Championship (URC) table with Saturday’s 34-19 bonus point win at Thomond Park.
Leinster face a Connacht side buoyed by a gutsy win away to Benetton on Saturday and with Bundee Aki likely to return at the Sportsground next Friday (kick-off 8pm). But Leinster for their part are likely to restore Johnny Sexton while Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher and James Ryan are all not far away from a return.
Ross Byrne has started all eight of Leinster’s matches since Sexton orchestrated the 64-7 European win away to Bath in January. “Ross carries a huge load for the team in many ways,” said Cullen after Saturday’s win.
“Nobody looks back on the season and thinks about the league, they think about who won it, not the individual 18 games. But they all have the same importance in terms of accumulating points. Ross has been excellent.
“Johnny, coming back off the Six Nations, trained well this week and had a really positive energy around the place. It’s important to have that level of competition. You remember last year Johnny got that bang in the Exeter game and you’ve less numbers to manage.
“Th …
- April 4, 2022
