Leinster v Bath: Champions Cup preview
By Tony Tighe
Last Updated: 16/01/16 5:10pm
Nothing less than a victory will do for Bath when face a much-changed Leinster in Saturday's Champions Cup tie at the RDS, live on Sky Sports 3 HD.
Last weekend's narrow defeat in Toulon leaves Bath third in Pool 5 with two games remaining, and the Premiership side need to replicate their November win over Leinster to keep their quarter-final hopes alive.
Bath have lost six of their seven away games against Irish opposition in the Champions Cup, three of those coming at the hands of Leinster, but they will be encouraged by the youthful pack selected by the home side.
Mike McCarthy is the only Leinster forward over the age of 25 as head coach Leo Cullen rings the changes.
The front-row of Peter Dooley, James Tracy and Tadhg Furlong are three of six players making their first European starts, with Rhys Ruddock, Josh van der Flier and Jordi Murphy forming an exciting back-row.
Luke McGrath partners Ian Madigan at half-back with Garry Ringrose named in midfield alongside Ben Te'o. Johnny Sexton and Sean O'Brien are among the replacements.
"We're playing in front of a home crowd at the RDS, which is the last time for the year in Europe, and we're looking to give the fans something to cheer about," said Furlong.
"There's personal pride as well. We want to win; no one goes out to lose a game. We're very much looking forward to it and looking forward to the challenge."
Leinster are experiencing their worst-ever run in Europe, losing five successive games, but they have never lost three home games in a row.
Bath will be intent on changing that as head coach Mike Ford keeps faith with the team that started against Toulon.
Scrum-half Chris Cook continues his partnership with George Ford while Kyle Eastmond and Jonathan Joseph link up at centre. Exeter-bound Ollie Devoto, who was named in the England elite player squad on Wednesday, is not included in the match-day 23.
Leinster: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Isa Nacewa (c), 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Ben Te'o, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Luke McGrath; 1 Peter Dooley, 2 James Tracy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Ross Molony, 5 Mike McCarthy, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 7 Josh van der Flier, 8 Jordi Murphy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Marty Moore, 19 Tom Denton, 20 Sean O'Brien, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Johnny Sexton, 23 Noel Reid.
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Chris Cook; 1 Max Lahiff, 2 Rob Webber, 3 David Wilson, 4 Stuart Hooper (c), 5 Dominic Day, 6 Matt Garvey, 7 Francois Louw, 8 Leroy Houston.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 David Denton, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Tom Homer.
Watch Leinster v Bath live on Sky Sports 3 HD on Saturday from 5pm. Catch the match for £6.99 on NOW TV. No contract.