Harry Byrne starts for Leinster in Champions Cup last 16 clash v Edinburgh
Michael Bolton
Harry Byrne has been named to start at fly-half for Leinster in their last 16 clash against Edinburgh in the Aviva Stadium on Sunday.
Ciarán Frawley will provide cover among the replacements, with Sam Prendergast left out of the squad completely.
In the second row, Ryan Baird makes his return from injury to partner Joe McCarthy.
Baird has been out of action since his injury against South Africa in November, in a big boost for Leo Cullen's side.
Garry Ringrose is out due to injury, with Rieko Ioane partnering Jamie Osborne in the centre.
Jimmy O’Brien is moved from fullback to the left wing in place of Joshua Kenny, who misses out altogether despite his two-try display against the Scarlets, with Hugo Keenan at full-back.
Luke McGrath is also recalled to earn what will be his 250th Leinster cap, while the 20-year-old loosehead Alex Usanov is in line for his Champions Cup debut in what will be his fifth appearance for the province.
Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Tommy O’Brien, Rieko Ioane, Jamie Osborne, Jimmy O’Brien; Harry Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Joe McCarthy, Ryan Baird; Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt).
Replacements: Gus McCarthy, Alex Usanov, Thomas Clarkson, Brian Deeny, Max Deegan, Luke McGrath, Ciarán Frawley, Robbie Henshaw.
Edinburgh: Piers O’Conor; Darcy Graham, Matt Currie, James Lang, Malelili Satala; Ross Thompson, Charlie Shiel; Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, D’arcy Rae; Marshall Sykes, Grant Gilchrist (capt); Liam McConnell, Dylan Richardson, Ben Muncaster.
Replacements: Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, Boan Venter, Paul Hill, Glen Young, Freddy Douglas, Ben Vellacott, Mosese Tuipulotu, Jack Brown.
The action for the Irish provinces gets underway on Friday night, with Connacht taking on the Sharks in Galway.
Josh Ioane and Matthew Devine make up the half-back pairing, with Sam Gilbert starting at full-back.
Prop Billy Bohan starts at prop, with captain Cian Prendergast returning to start at number eight.
For the Sharks, Eben Etzebeth returns from suspension to start in the second row.
Etzebeth has been banned since November for eye-gouging incident in South Africa’s victory over Wales.
Connacht: S Gilbert; S Jennings, C Forde, B Aki, C Mullins; J Ioane; M Devine; B Bohan, D Heffernan, S Illo; J Joyce, D Murray; J Murphy, S Hurley-Langton, C Prendergast (capt). Replacements: D Tierney-Martin, P Dooley, F Bealham; N Murray, P Boyle, C Reilly, S Naughton, J Devine.
Sharks: H Kunene; E van der Merwe, Le-Roux Malan, M Potgieter, M Mapimpi; J Smith, R Braude; O Nche, E Swart, V Koch; E Etzebeth, D Slabbert; T Mavesere, J Potgieter, N Hatton (capt). Replacements: E Bester, L-Marvin Mazibuko, M Mdanda, C Rahl, V Tshituka, C Everson, S Masuku, E Hooker.
