In-form Leinster will arrive at Stade Marcel Deflandre targeting a third straight win against an out-of-sorts La Rochelle side, but head coach Leo Cullen is expecting a ‘proper test’ from the French giants on their home turf.
Ronan O’Gara’s outfit were European kryptonite for several seasons, beating Leinster in the 2022 and 2023 Champions Cup finals.
But the balance of power appeared to shift last season, with the Blues beating La Rochelle at their home fortress in the pool stages before following up with a 40-point hammering in a one-sided quarter-final clash in Dublin.
Now Leinster, who are unbeaten in 11 games this season, will face a La Rochelle side struggling for form and sitting in sixth place in the Top14 standings.
But Cullen is taking nothing for granted against Leinster‘s arch-rivals.
‘We are up against a proper team with so much experience and they are a crafty bunch,’ he said. ‘They have a good understanding of what they want to do there and they have proved across the last few seasons that they have lots of big-game players there.
‘They have tons of experience if you go through the line-up. They are able to recruit from four corners of the globe. It’s a proper test for our guys.’
The Leinster boss made a number of surprise calls on Friday with veteran loosehead Cian Healy named to start ahead of Andrew Porter while Hugo Keenan has missed out on the matchday selection entirely as Jamie Osborne holds onto the full-back slot.
Tommy and Jimmy O’Brien were named on the wings with Jordan Larmour and James Lowe sidelined with injuries while All Blacks star Jordie Barrett and Springboks lock RG Snyman were both named among a strong replacements bench.
But the headline-grabbing selection was the return of Tadhg Furlong after Ireland’s premier tighthead missed the entire Autumn nations campaign with a calf injury.
In a huge boost to Ireland’s Six Nations title hopes, the 32-year-old will play his first competitive game since October.
‘Everyone was very cautious in terms of his return so he’s had a few weeks of training under his belt, which has been great and sets him up well for the game,’ said Cullen.
‘It’s going to be a great challenge. He’s a biggame player, has tons of experience, it’s a great boost for us to have him back.’
Meanwhile, Leinster are set to lose the services of loosehead prop Michael Milne and hooker Lee Barron to Munster next season.
Milne and Barron have fallen down the pecking order at their home province and it is understood that the pair are nearing a move to Thomond Park in the summer.
Elsewhere, Connacht face Lyon in the Challenge Cup and head coach Pete Wilkins has rung the changes.
Peter Dooley, Oisín Dowling, Joe Joyce, Seán Jansen, Ben Murphy, Josh Ioane, Shane Jennings and Chay Mullins have all been drafted into the starting line-up.
The province will be without Ireland wing Mack Hansen who is serving a three-game ban following his criticism of referees and match officials.
‘I think it was a fair hearing and Mack certainly said that coming out of it,’ Wilkins said.
‘We have to accept what was handed down. There’s been so much media coverage of it and we just have to move on now, really.’
