Connacht head coach Pat Lam is urging his troops to keep their wits about them if they are to have any hope of getting one over Leinster. GUINNESS PRO12 leaders Connacht have won their last six matches in all tournaments, five of those with maximum points. Meanwhile, their only loss at the Sportsground in any competition this season was 3-10 to Ulster in the GUINNESS PRO12 on 26 December. However, this impressive run of form will be put to the test on Saturday as Leinster arrive at the Sportsground second and just one point behind Connacht. The Leinstermen have won all three matches they have played against fellow Irish provinces this season and they have lost just once to Connacht in their last six encounters – with Lam preparing for another tough battle. "I have a lot of respect for who Leinster are and what they have achieved,” Lam said. “There is a lot of quality right across the squad and I believe Leo (Cullen), in his first season as head coach, has done a tremendous job. “Tomorrow, we are expecting a pretty physical and fired up opposition. As a team who have history of winning at this stage of the season, it's going to take a massive collective effort from us to come out on top. "There's certainly a huge buzz around this game tomorrow and we're all really looking forward to it – it doesn't get much better than playing in front of a sold-out Sportsground. “Staying focussed and channelling that excitement and energy into our structures and systems will give us the best chance of getting the points on offer." In order to stay top of the GUINNESS PRO12 Lam has made two changes to the starting XV that beat Edinburgh three weeks ago. Academy centre Peter Robb is handed his first GUINNESS PRO12 start and partners Bundee Aki in midfield, while Niyi Adeolokun returns to the right wing after missing the Edinburgh game through injury. Internationals Robbie Henshaw – who only joined team training on Thursday – and Finlay Bealham are both named amongst the replacements with the latter, who has featured in every Connacht game this season, in line to make his 50th appearance. Leinster's four game winning run in the GUINNESS PRO12 ended in Glasgow on Friday and as Leo Cullen bids to get back to winning ways, he is able to call on 12 players who were involved in the match day and extended match day squad for Ireland last weekend against Scotland. He is also able to bring in the fit again Luke Fitzgerald, who returns for the first time since January, to make his 150th appearance for the province. With Fergus McFadden coming on to the right wing, captain Isa Nacewa – who makes his 100th GUINNESS PRO12 appearance on Saturday – reverts to full-back with Fitzgerald taking up the No.11 jersey. Ben Te'o and Garry Ringrose continue in midfield while Luke McGrath again starts at scrum-half with Ian Madigan joining him in the No.10 shirt. Cian Healy comes in at loose head prop with Richardt Strauss also starting at hooker, while Tadhg Furlong completes the front row. Behind them Ross Molony and Hayden Triggs start in the second row, while in the back row Dominic Ryan starts from blindside with Josh Van der Flier and Rhys Ruddock, back from Ireland duty, complete the pack. Irish players Sean Cronin, Jack McGrath, Mike Ross, Devin Toner, Jamie Heaslip and Eoin Reddan are all included on the bench. Leinster lock Mick Kearney, who used to be on Connacht’s books, said: “From my experience any inter-pro when you’re in Connacht, it’s a fairly violent week (in training) to be honest. “You want to be starting, you want to get your place and you want to get as many of those physical moments in during the week. You want to be ready, you want to know what’s coming. “I’ll tell you now, when I was at Connacht the training we did in the week of an inter-pro was far harder than any inter-pro that we played in. It was fairly vicious stuff and it gets you ready for the game.” At Sportsground, 5.15pm. Live on Sky Sports and TG4 Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU, 132nd competition game) Assistant Referees: Peter Fitzgibbon, Stuart Gaffikin (both IRFU) Citing Commissioner: John Cole (IRFU) TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)
