Carlow prop Ed Byrne will captain a Leinster Rugby senior team for the first time in his career.
The 23-year-old last captained Leinster at U20 level and while his progress has been hampered with serious knee injuries over the last few years he made a successful return towards the end of last season even scoring his first try in Leinster colours in the Guinness PRO12.
He will be joined in the front row by his twin brother Bryan at hooker and by Academy player Jeremy Loughman at tighthead prop.
Mick Kearney and Ian Nagle will lock down behind the young front row with Josh Murphy, Will Connors and Max Deegan completing the pack.
In the backs former St. Andrew’s College player Jordan Larmour starts at full back with Adam Byrne and Ian Fitzpatrick on the right and left wings.
Tom Daly and Jimmy O’Brien will play in the centre together while in the half backs St. Michael’s duo Nick McCarthy and Cathal Marsh will start at nine and ten.
An extended bench has been named by Cullen with 25 players in total travelling to France.
Match updates will be provided on the Leinster Rugby Twitter account and a full match report will be available on leinsterrugby.ie afterwards.
Leinster Rugby:
15. Jordan Larmour
14. Adam Byrne
13. Jimmy O’Brien
12. Tom Daly
11. Ian Fitzpatrick
10. Cathal Marsh
9. Nick McCarthy
1. Ed Byrne CAPTAIN
2. Bryan Byrne
3. Jeremy Loughman
4. Mick Kearney
5. Ian Nagle
6. Josh Murphy
7. Will Connors
8. Max Deegan
Replacements
16. Sean McNulty
17. Vakh Abdaladze
18. Oisín Heffernan
19. Oisín Dowling
20. Peadar Timmins
21. Charlie Rock
22. Noel Reid
23. Hugo Keenan
24. Barry Daly
25. Peter Dooley
#JoinTheRoar at the RDS Arena and Aviva Stadium this season! Season Tickets are available now from leinsterseasontickets.ie.
