Leinster have won the competition four times in a row and are looking to make it five with a victorious URC campaign this season.

In that time, they have won the Champions Cup once and also finished runners-up in the European competition.

However, their performance last week against Dragons at Rodney Parade was undeniably poor and it brought question marks over where the province stands in the league, even though they are still top dogs.

The reigning Pro14 champions came away with four points in a 7-6 win but their attack did not click after Max Deegan’s score in the 14th minute.

Cullen believes that the gap between Leinster and the rest of the league is narrowing and puts it down to the structure of the new-look URC.

“I don’t know, but there’s a human nature involved. It’s one of the great unknowns,” Cullen said in Friday’s pre-match press conference.

“A team will always steal a march at various different stages, whether that’s slight tweaks in terms of the laws and how they’re interpreted – certain teams adapt quicker and then others catch up and the gaps close.

“There’s the competition, recruitment, one team falls off and another rises. That’s just sport.

“That’s why it’s so hard to stay at the top for so long because I’m hearing lots of different teams out there saying ‘We want trophies, we want trophies… our plan this year is to win trophies’, there’s 16 teams all trying to do the same thing ultimately. Do all 16 teams all believe they can win a trophy? Plenty of them do.

“So you’ve got to try and stay ahead of the competition at all times and the competition is always trying to challenge.

“I definitely think there’s a narrowing for sure, the way the competition is structured in particular means there’s less moving parts.

“You’d [have played] teams at different stages [in the past] and they might be missing X amount of players, but there’s no clash with the internationals now and that’s the most obvious change, and slightly less games is a change as well.

“Last year there was a certain war of attrition element to the season because there was so many internationals. The four normal Tests plus those Six Nations Tests, six Tests and finishing the previous season.

“Hence why we used a very big number of players last year, so it’s hard to imagine we’ll use that many this season looking at it now.”

However, their depth will still be strong and Cullen shows faith in that with his selection for Leinster’s clash with Zebre.

13 changes have been made to the side that started in Wales last week, including 11 players making their season debuts.

Adam Byrne returns after a long time on the sideline and will get to start in front of the fans at the RDS Arena, while Harry Byrne and Jordan Larmour are also back from injury.

Devin Toner will make his first appearance of the 17th season of his career and Cullen said that he spoke to the squad earlier this week.

“[Devin] has a huge amount of knowledge that he can share. He actually talked this week, which was great. He’s hugely influential.”

The game will kick-off at 1 pm and will be available to watch live on RTÉ 2, Mediaset, Premier Sports, SuperSport and URC TV.

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Team News

Leinster

15. Jimmy O’Brien (35) 
14. Adam Byrne (57)
13. Jamie Osborne (7) 
12. Ciarán Frawley (37) 
11. Jordan Larmour (62) 
10. Harry Byrne (24) 
9. Luke McGrath (152) CAPTAIN

1. Ed Byrne (72)
2. Seán Cronin (195) 
3. Michael Ala’alatoa (2)
4. Devin Toner (266) 
5. Ryan Baird (29) 
6. Dan Leavy (73) 
7. Scott Penny (29) 
8. Rhys Ruddock (190)

Replacements:
 
16. Rónan Kelleher (25) 
17. Peter Dooley (93) 
18. Cian Healy (233) 
19. Ross Molony (118) 
20. Max Deegan (67) 
21. Nick McCarthy (37) 
22. Johnny Sexton (174)
23. Rob Russell (1)

Zebre

15. Jacopo Trulla * (7)

14. Pierre Bruno (31)

13. Erich Cronjé (0)

12. Enrico Lucchin * (25)

11. Mattia Bellini (64)

10. Antonio Rizzi * (23)

9. Nicholas Casilio * (21)

8. Renato Giammarioli * (63)

7. Luca Andreani * (0)

6. Iacopo Bianchi * (20)

5. Andrea Zambonin * (2)

4. Cristian Stoian * (4)

4. Ion Neculai * (2)

2. Oliviero Fabiani (132) (Cap)

1. Andrea Lovotti * (108)

Available:

16. Massimo Ceciliani * (40)

17. Danilo Fischetti * (29)

18. Matteo Nocera * (18)

19. David Sisi (66)

20. Giovanni Licata * (43)

21. Guglielmo Palazzani (148)

22. Tommaso Boni * (103)

23. Paolo Pescetto (11)

Odds

Leinster 1/100

Draw 100/1

Zebre 33/1

Where To Watch

The match will kick off at 1 pm BST and will be available to watch live on RTÉ, Mediaset, Premier Sports, SuperSport and URC TV.

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McGrath is partnered by Harry Byrne who returns from a minor foot injury to start his first game of the season.

In the pack, Ed Byrne and Seán Cronin come in this week but it’s a third start in a row for new signing Michael Ala’alatoa who will experience the RDS Arena for the first time.

Devin Toner is involved in a matchday 23 for the first time this campaign and starts in the second row alongside Ryan Baird.

In the back row, Dan Leavy starts his first game of the season, as does Scott Penny, with Rhys Ruddock retained from the starting XV last week but moving from blindside flanker to No 8 for tomorrow’s game. 

On the bench, Rónan Kelleher is back involved with Leinster for the first time this season having toured with the British and Irish Lions to South Africa during the summer. ​​

Tickets for the game are still on sale HERE with capacity for the game capped at 75 per cent of the RDS Arena total.

Covid-19 protocols will be in place, in line with the latest Government guidelines and the latest guidelines for the game are available HERE.

The guidelines remain the same as those that were in place for the Vodacom Bulls game at Aviva Stadium two weeks ago under the 75 per cent capacity guidelines.

Leinster Team v Zebre

15. Jimmy O’Brien (35) 
14. Adam Byrne (57)
13. Jamie Osborne (7) 
12. Ciarán Frawley (37) 
11. Jordan Larmour (62) 
10. Harry Byrne (24) 
9. Luke McGrath (152) CAPTAIN

1. Ed Byrne (72)
2. Seán Cronin (195) 
3. Michael Ala’alatoa (2)
4. Devin Toner (266) 
5. Ryan Baird (29) 
6. Dan Leavy (73) 
7. Scott Penny (29) 
8. Rhys Ruddock (190)

Replacements:
 
16. Rónan Kelleher (25) 
17. Peter Dooley (93) 
18. Cian Healy (233) 
19. Ross Molony (118) 
20. Max Deegan (67) 
21. Nick McCarthy (37) 
22. Johnny Sexton (174)
23. Rob Russell (1)

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19-year-old scrum-half, Nathan Doak, will make his first competitive start for Ulster as John Cooney is currently out through injury – Doak played 50 minutes against Glasgow after the Ireland international’s withdrawal.

Doak, who scored his first senior try against Glasgow Warriors last Friday, has been named alongside Billy Burns at out-half.

In the midfield, James Hume has been paired up with Stewart Moore while Ethan McIlroy makes a positional switch to the left-wing, with Craig Gilroy coming in to take up the right-wing position, and Will Addison named at full-back.

It’s all change in the front row with Eric O’Sullivan and Tom O’Toole coming in to prop at either side of Rob Herring, who will be just one appearance away from the ‘200’ milestone when he takes the field tomorrow.

Alan O’Connor will skipper the Ulster side and is partnered by former Zebre lock Mick Kearney in the second row.

Matty Rea is selected at blindside flanker, and Nick Timoney switches to openside, with David McCann named at Number Eight.

Brad Roberts, Callum Reid, Marty Moore, Sam Carter and Sean Reidy are the forward options from the bench, and David Shanahan, Mike Lowry and Ben Moxham offer backline cover.

12 players are unavailable for the game, including Cooney, Jordi Murphy and club captain Iain Henderson.

Ulster Team v Zebre

(15-9) Will Addison, Craig Gilroy, James Hume, Stewart Moore, Ethan McIlroy, Billy Burns, Nathan Doak;

(1-8) Eric O’Sullivan, Rob Herring, Tom O’Toole, Alan O’Connor (Capt.), Mick Kearney, Matty Rea, Nick Timoney, David McCann.

Replacements: Brad Roberts, Callum Reid, Marty Moore, Sam Carter, Sean Reidy, David Shanahan, Mike Lowry, Ben Moxham.

Players not considered due to injury or unavailability:

Jack McGrath, Iain Henderson, Luke Marshall, Cormac Izuchukwu, David O’Connor, Jordi Murphy, John Cooney, Stuart McCloskey, Robert Baloucoune, Kieran Treadwell, Ian Madigan, Jacob Stockdale.

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Head Coach Johann van Graan has included five Greencore Munster Rugby Academy players in his match day 23 for the Guinness PRO14 Round 8 game.

Prop Josh Wycherley will make his second start of the campaign while Thomas Ahern, Jack Daly, Ben Healy and Seán French are all named among the replacements.

Van Graan makes eight changes

In total, van Graan makes eight changes to the side that claimed an away bonus point win against Glasgow a week ago.

Chris Cloete returns to the starting line-up following a neck injury and will make his second start of the season. The South African along with Waterford’s Jack O’Donoghue and last weekend’s Player of the Match, Gavin Coombes, make up the back row. The young Number 8 makes his fifth start in a row after some highly impressive performances this season.

Fineen Wycherley makes the positional change to the second row alongside captain Billy Holland while younger brother Josh and hooker Rhys Marshall join Stephen Archer in the front row.

The half back pairing changes this week with Nick McCarthy making his first start of the season alongside JJ Hanrahan, who returns to the number ten jersey.

Munster Rugby’s centre pairing tonight with be Dan Goggin and Damian de Allende.

Darren Sweetnam is chosen on the left wing with Calvin Nash on the opposite side, while
Matt Gallagher moves to full back.

Prop Liam O’Connor returns from a calf injury to take his place on the bench for his first inclusion since December 2019.

Both Jack Daly and Seán French will likely make their Guinness PRO14 debuts off the bench tonight.

Munster Rugby Team:

15. Matt Gallagher, 14. Calvin Nash, 13. Dan Goggin, 12. Damian de Allende, 11. Darren Sweetnam, 10. JJ Hanrahan, 9. Nick McCarthy.

1. Josh Wycherley, 2. Rhys Marshall, 3. Stephen Archer, 4. Fineen Wycherley, 5. Billy Holland (captain), 6. Jack O’Donoghue, 7. Chris Cloete, 8. Gavin Coombes.

Munster Rugby Replacements:

16. Diarmuid Barron, 17. Liam O’Connor, 18. Keynan Knox, 19. Thomas Ahern, 20. Jack Daly, 21. Craig Casey, 22. Ben Healy, 23. Seán French.

Tonight’s Round 8 Guinness PRO14 game against Zebre at Thomond Park is live on eir Sport, with an 8.15pm kick-off.

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