Jonathan Sexton may have confirmed his Leinster return next season, but the province has a more pressing concern – a GUINNESS PRO12 final re-match with Glasgow Warriors. Sexton, who left Leinster last summer, will be back at the RDS in 2015, by which time Matt O’Connor’s men will be hoping to boast three straight PRO12 titles. They claimed the second in May with a 34-12 win against Glasgow and week one of the new campaign holds a trip to Scotstoun as the two sides clash heads once more. Leinster ended last season on a five-match winning run in the competition but had lost both of their visits to Scotland during the campaign, without scoring a try. This is the seventh successive year they have begun their GUINNESS PRO12 campaign away from home and O’Connor has selected a strong side as they go in search of victory. Jimmy Gopperth gets the nod at fly-half, while Brendan Macken is at outside centre, wearing the shirt made so popular by retired Leinster legend Brian O’Driscoll. In the pack Sean O’Brien is at No.8 and captains the side, in place of the injured Jamie Heaslip, while the front row is packed with Ireland internationals: Cian Healy, Mike Ross and Sean Cronin. “It is an incredibly tough challenge that we have got going to Glasgow,” said head coach O’Connor. “They would have been incredibly frustrated all summer off the back of the grand final result. “We will have to mirror that motivation. We have to make sure we are incredibly physical and accurate to make sure we get a result up there.” Glasgow flanker Rob Harley will make his 100th appearance for Glasgow Warriors – a feat matched by Leinster scrum-half Isaac Boss – when he lines up in the back row alongside Chris Fusaro and captain Josh Strauss. In the back line, Peter Horne is at fly-half while Scotland’s Sean Lamont and Stuart Hogg are on the bench, with Lee Jones and Peter Murchie preferred at left wing and full-back respectively. Glasgow's only victory in their last ten encounters with Leinster was 12-6 in this equivalent fixture in round 3 last season. However, they have won their last eight games at Scotstoun in all competitions – a run that dates back to European defeat to Toulon in January. “I was delighted to get such a big fixture early on,” said head coach Gregor Townsend. “It focuses your mind as a coach on getting pre-season plans and bringing guys in at different stages of the season. “When you have got a game like that at the start it really gets you thinking about how to do things maybe a bit differently. “I think we played them third game of the season last year at Scotstoun. It was a great atmosphere and we had to play really well to win, but we have had some battles against Leinster that we have not managed to win so we will have to be spot on.” At Scotstoun Stadium, 5.15pm. Live on Sky Sports Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU, 112th competition game) Assistant Referees: Neil Paterson, Bob Nevins (both SRU) Citing Commissioner: Paul Minto (SRU) TMO: Jim Yuille (SRU) Follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to ourYouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletterfor regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12
