Aki, Hansen and Bealham start for Connacht as Leinster shuffle pack
Ireland Pic: Ben Winger Brady/inpho And Mack Connacht Hansen
Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins has named his side for Saturday’s United Rugby Championship interpro away to Leinster at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off, 5.30pm).
International trio Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham all start for the first time since the November internationals, with two other players named in that Ireland squad - captain Cian Prendergast and Dave Heffernan - also in the starting XV.
Meanwhile, All Black-capped Josh Ioane returns from injury to play for the first time since the end of October – he lines out at out-half with Ben Murphy alongside him at scrum-half.
Wilkins said: “We’re under no illusions as to the task ahead of us, but that makes it all the more exciting. To play a Christmas interpro at the Aviva Stadium against one of the best teams in Europe is a brilliant opportunity to test where we’re at.
"It’s great to have more of our international contingent back, as well as a few players returning from injury, and after the win last weekend we will travel to Dublin with plenty of optimism, albeit conscious of the challenge ahead.”
For Leinster, head coach Leo Cullen has named five academy players in his starting 15, while back-row Alex Soroka is set to make his first appearance of the season.
There are 13 changes in personnel to the starting XV from last Saturday's 15-7 win over Clermont Auvergne, with Jordie Barrett switching to inside-centre and Jimmy O'Brien swapping from the wing to full-back.
Jack Conan captains the side from number eight with Soroka and Scott Penny joining him in the back-row.
Diarmuid Mangan partners RG Snyman in the second-row. Jack Boyle and Rabah Slimani will scrum down either side of Gus McCarthy in a repeat of the same front-row that faced Connacht in October.
The experienced duo of Ross Byrne and Luke McGrath will steer the ship from the half-back positions, with the versatile Charlie Tector selected to partner Barrett in the centre.
With O'Brien at full-back, Andrew Osborne and Aitzol Arenzana-King have been given the nod on the wings.
"I don't take them for granted. From our perspective, our preparation for Connacht won't be any different than our preparation for Clermont, or our preparation for Bristol, or our preparation for Toulouse in the Investec Champions Cup final last year," Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienaber said.
"Our rugby programme during the week will not differ. There will be the same amount of respect shown to Connacht or Zebre or Toulouse or if it's a final or if it's just a normal league game. There's no different approach from us to the amount of preparation that we'll put in."
J O’Brien; A Arenzana-King, C Tector, J Barrett, A Osborne; R Byrne, L McGrath; J Boyle, G McCarthy, R Slimani; D Mangan, RG Snyman; A Soroka, S Penny, J Conan.
L Barron, M Milne, C Healy, B Deeny, R Baird, J Gibson-Park, H Byrne, M Deegan.
P O’Conor; M Hansen, C Forde, B Aki, S Jennings; J Ioane, B Murphy; D Buckley, D Heffernan, F Bealham; J Murphy, D Murray; C Prendergast, S Hurley-Langton, P Boyle.
D Tierney-Martin, J Duggan, J Aungier, O Dowling, S Jansen, C Blade, S Cordero, C Oliver.