Van der Flier called up for Glasgow visit

BEYOND the international sphere, and even the seemingly inevitable final meeting of Munster and Leinster in the Guinness PRO14 final, there is another intriguing individual battle taking place.

The race to become the league’s leading try-scorer is naturally reflective of Irish domination; with nine of the top 10 places occupied by players from Irish provinces.

Aside from Ulster’s South African Marcell Coetzee (9), all eight are Irishmen although none of them have been asked to check in to Carton House as Ireland’s two-try, winless championship campaign seeks to pick up pace in Rome. However, Scott Penny, who switches to a novel No 8 slot against Glasgow at the RDS tomorrow, has little interest in personal goals as he seeks to establish himself.

“Ah, not really, to be honest,” says the player who is now just three tries behind Connacht wing Alex Wootton in the leading scorers list. “It’s more about what you do around the pitch, support and tackling and carrying. It’s always good to get a try but at the end of the day it doesn’t mean that much.”

Josh van der Flier is straight into the side after being released from Irish duty and there is the prospect of a debut off the bench for Alex Soroka, who has just turned 20. The back-rower’s family moved to Ireland from Ukraine shortly before he was born in Cork and they later moved to Dublin.

Verdict: Leinster

LEINSTER – J O’Brien; C Kelleher, R O’Loughlin, C Frawley, D Kearney; H Byrne, L McGrath (capt); P Dooley, S Cronin, M Bent, D Toner, S Fardy, J Murphy, J van der Flier, S Penny.Reps: D Sheehan, G McGrath, T Clarkson, J Dunne, A Soroka, R Osborne, D Hawkshaw, J Osborne.

GLASGOW WARRIORS – O Smith; R McClean, H Jones, S Johnson, C Forbes; A Hastings, J Dobie; O Kebble, G Stewart, E Pieretto, R Gray, L Nakawara, R Harley, T Gordon, R Wilson (capt).

Reps: J Matthews, A Seiuli, D Rae, G Brown, TJ Ioane, S Kennedy, R Thompson, R Fergusson.

REF – F Murphy (IRFU).

Leinster v Glasgow Warriors, Live, eir Sport, 5.35