Leinster

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Former Ireland and Munster back Andrew Conway had "hard conversations" with Joe Schmidt when making the switch from Leinster to Munster.

The 34-year-old, whose career ended in 2023 because of a knee injury, had made 42 appearances for his home province at the time when offered a contract with fierce rivals Munster.

Although he had been invited to the Munster Academy as a teenager when leaving Dublin's Blackrock College, Conway at that stage opted to stay at home.

However, speaking to The Ireland Rugby Social podcast, he felt eventually making the switch to Thomond Park in 2013 was the "best decision" he made in his career despite how his then provincial coach Schmidt heard the news.

"I trust my intuition and just felt it was the right thing to do, even though it was the hard thing to do," he said.

"I signed the contract on the Thursday and Joe had rang me an hour after I had signed it, saying 'don't sign anything but come in and talk to me on Saturday'. I didn't have the forethought to say I'd signed so just said 'yeah, grand'.

"On Friday, I went over to London to a football match with a couple of mates and came back the worse for wear on the Saturday. My agent had rang and said Gerry Thornley (of The Irish Times) knew about me signing and it was going into the paper, so Joe would have known.

"I went in and got the head eaten off me, but a few hours later I find out why he was so annoyed - Johnny Sexton had signed for Racing and it was coming out, so my thing was small fish."

In the podcast, Conway talks about his 10 years at Munster where he made 150 appearances for his adopted province.

Knee injuries would hamper his Ireland career as he missed out on two Grand Slams, a winning tour to New Zealand and the 2023 World Cup, something he described as "horrific", but Conway takes a philosophical view of his career.

"I'd love a few more medals and caps, but have a mentality where I don't think about what I didn't achieve or don't have.

"I'm more focused on the positives. Maybe it's a bit idealistic, but it's the truth."

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Luke McGrath says Leinster owed their fans an improved performance as they shook off a sluggish start to the season to thrash Zebre in Dublin.

The United Rugby Championship holders came into Saturday's Aviva Stadium game on the back of three defeats in four, including last week's heavy loss to rivals Munster at Croke Park.

But despite handing out six debuts in a team shorn of their Ireland contingent, they overcame a spirited first-half showing from Zebre to score eight tries and seal a 50-26 win.

"It was such a tough week, especially after last weekend," captain McGrath told Premier Sports.

"We felt we owed it to our fans to put on a better performance and we're really pleased we were able to do that."

The scrum-half added: "It was far from perfect.

"There was so much inexperience in there, so much excitement before the game, so I'm happy for those six guys and thankfully we made it a good bonus-point win, something we haven't been amazing at this season."

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Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has included five uncapped players in his matchday squad for Saturday's United Rugby Championship game against Zebre at Aviva Stadium (17:30 BST).

Full-back Hugo McLaughlin and prop Jerry Cahir make their debuts from the start, with prop Alex Usanov, fly-half Caspar Gabriel and hooker Bobby Sheehan - British and Irish Lions and Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan's younger brother - named on the bench.

With 22 Leinster players on Ireland duty, Cullen has made 14 changes from last week's dispiriting 31-14 defeat by rivals Munster at Croke Park, with Max Deegan the only player retained.

Joshua Kenny earns his first start on the right wing after making his debut off the bench against the Sharks a fortnight ago, with Andrew Osborne on the left.

Experienced scrum-half Luke McGrath captains the side as Harry Byrne returns at fly-half.

France prop Rabah Slimani starts at tight-head while Springbok second row RG Snyman is on the bench.

URC holders Leinster have lost three of their first four URC games.

Leinster: McLaughlin; Kenny, Cooney, Tector, A Osborne; Byrne, McGrath; Cahir, McKee, Slimani, Deeny, Mangan, Deegan, Penny, Culhane.

Replacements: B Sheehan, Usanov, Sparrow, Snyman, Soroka, Connors, Gunne, Gabriel.

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Leinster head coach Leo Cullen will await updates on his walking wounded as they prepare for Saturday's URC clash with Zebre Parma at the Aviva Stadium (17:30 BST).

Their weekend defeat by Munster at Croke Park came at an added cost with Paddy McCarthy and Jordan Larmour leaving the game with head injuries. They have entered the Graduated Return to Play Protocols and will be further assessed as the week continues.

Robbie Henshaw (groin) and RG Snyman (hip) also left the 31-14 defeat early and they will both be monitored throughout the week.

Cullen was forced into late changes for the Munster game with injuries to Tommy O'Brien (back) and Jack Conan (knee) with their availability for this week's game against the Italians to be determined.

There are no further updates on Cormac Foley, Joe McCarthy and Hugo Keenan, while all of the Leinster players named in last week's Ireland squad will travel with Andy Farrell's group as planned.

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Leinster have made two late changes to their starting team for their United Rugby Championship encounter with Irish interprovincial rivals Munster at Croke Park (15:15 BST).

Wing Tommy O'Brien and number eight Jack Conan - who were both named in Ireland's autumn squad earlier this week - were originally named in head coach Leo Cullen's starting line-up, but have failed fitness tests on back and knee injuries respectively.

Jordan Larmour comes in for O'Brien, with Max Deegan drafted in at number eight.

Jimmy O'Brien joins the replacements while Josh van der Flier assumes the role of captain in the absence of Conan after he also skippered the side in last week's 31-5 win over the Sharks.

Leinster: Jamie Osborne; Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose; Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Paddy McCarthy, Ronan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong; RG Snyman, James Ryan; Alex Soroka, Josh van der Flier (capt), Max Deegan.

Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Andrew Porter, Thomas Clarkson, Brian Deeny, Scott Penny, Fintan Gunne, Ciaran Frawley, Jimmy O'Brien.

Munster: Shane Daly; Andrew Smith, Tom Farrell, Dan Kelly, Thaakir Abrahams; Jack Crowley, Ethan Coughlan; Michael Milne, Diarmuid Barron, John Ryan; Edwin Edogbo, Fineen Wycherley; Tadhg Beirne (capt), Jack O'Donoghue, Brian Gleeson.

Replacements: Lee Barron, Jeremy Loughman, Ronan Foxe, Jean Kleyn, Gavin Coombes, Paddy Patterson, JJ Hanrahan, Alex Nankivell.

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Winless Leinster have named five of their British and Irish Lions to start Saturday's United Rugby Championship game against the Sharks at Aviva Stadium (17:30 BST).

Forwards Josh van der Flier, Tadhg Furlong and Ronan Kelleher and backs James Lowe and Jamie Osborne all return to domestic action after featuring in the Lions' Australian tour over the summer.

Flanker Van der Flier captains Leinster for the first time, while Harry Byrne starts at fly-half with Ireland international Sam Prendergast not included in the matchday squad.

Former Ireland sevens player Joshua Kenny is poised to make his Leinster debut after being named on the bench.

The 22-year-old trained with the URC champions over the summer, featured in September's pre-season game against Cardiff and travelled with the squad to South Africa for the defeats by the Stormers and Bulls.

Leinster boss Leo Cullen makes eight changes from the 39-31 loss to the Bulls, with Fintan Gunne making his first start of the season at scrum-half.

Lowe and Osborne's returns mean Jimmy O'Brien shifts to the wing while Robbie Henshaw moves to outside centre to partner Ciaran Frawley.

The Sharks lost to Glasgow in their opener before a 17-17 draw with the Dragons last week.

Leinster: Jamie Osborne; Jimmy O'Brien, Robbie Henshaw, Ciaran Frawley, James Lowe; Harry Byrne, Fintan Gunne: Paddy McCarthy, Ronan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong, Brian Deeny, Ryan Baird, Alex Soroka, Josh van der Flier (capt), Max Deegan.

Replacements: Gus McCarthy, Jack Boyle, Thomas Clarkson, Diarmuid Mangan, James Culhane, Luke McGrath, Hugh Cooney, Joshua Kenny.

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Ireland back Jamie Osborne has returned to training ahead of Leinster's United Rugby Championship game against the Sharks at Aviva Stadium on Saturday (17:30 BST).

Osborne did not feature in the URC holders' defeats by the Stormers and Bulls in South Africa over the past two weekends because of a minor hamstring issue.

The 23-year-old, who can play at full-back, in the centre or on the wing, started at 13 in Ireland's summer Test win over Georgia before being called up to the British and Irish Lions squad as injury cover for Blair Kinghorn, scoring two tries in his only appearance against First Nations & Pasifika XV.

Leinster have been without their Lions tourists during the 2025-26 season's first two weekends.

While some are expected to feature against the Sharks, Leo Cullen is still without Lions Joe McCarthy (foot) and Hugo Keenan (hip).

In the province's injury bulletin on Monday, there were also no further updates on Ireland captain Caelan Doris, Jordan Larmour or Cormac Foley.

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Leo Cullen has made seven changes to his Leinster team for Saturday's United Rugby Championship game against Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versfeld (17:30 BST).

The Leinster head coach is without Jordan Larmour who picked up a foot injury in last week's defeat to the Stormers with Andrew Osborne replacing him on the wing, with Tommy O'Brien retaining his place on the opposite flank and Jimmy O'Brien again starting at full-back.

Ciaran Frawley drops to the bench with Hugh Cooney selected at centre alongside Robbie Henshaw, while captain Luke McGrath and Sam Prendergast remain the half-back partnership.

In the front row, British and Irish Lion Thomas Clarkson makes his first start of the season with Paddy McCarthy who is set for his first Leinster start, with Gus McCarthy remaining as hooker.

Ryan Baird starts in the second row where he will partner Brian Deeny, while it's all change in the back row where Alex Soroka and Will Connors start on the flanks with Max Deegan at number eight.

Leinster: J O'Brien; T O'Brien, Cooney, Henshaw, Osborne; Prendergast, McGrath (capt); P McCarthy, G McCarthy, Clarkson; Deeny, Baird; Soroka, Connors, Deegan.

Replacements: McKee, Boyle, Slimani, Mangan, Penny, Culhane, Gunne, Frawley

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Ins: Reiko Ioane (Blues)

Outs: Jordie Barrett (Hurricanes), Cian Healy (retired), Ross Byrne, Rob Russell (both Gloucester)

Last season: Champions

First five games: Stormers (A), Bulls (A), Sharks (H), Munster (H), Zebre (H)

Prospects: A three-season gap without a trophy constitutes a silverware drought for a side like Leinster with Leo Cullen's men ending that unwelcome streak with victory over Glasgow in URC final in June.

Defeat by Northampton Saints in the Champions Cup semi-finals, however, again gave the impression that the prize they most desired had proved elusive.

Despite the conclusion of Jordie Barrett's short-term deal, Leinster have been able to replace like for like by bringing in his All Black colleague Reiko Ioane in what was one of the most talked about signings in recent Irish rugby history - a penny for Johnny Sexton's thoughts, anyone?

Cian Healy, the side's most capped player of all time, has retired while another hugely reliable performer, Ross Byrne has departed too.

But perhaps the toll of the British and Irish Lions series is the biggest unknown going into Leinster's season. Twelve of their number were in the original touring panel before Jamie Osborne and Tom Clarkson were added as injury cover later on.

Leinster will be favourites to be crowned champions once again but, with Caelan Doris, Hugo Keenan and Joe McCarthy all to miss the start of the season through injury, how will those exertions down under impact their players across another long season for club and country?

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Luke McGrath will captain Leinster in Friday's United Rugby Championship title defence opener against the Stormers in Cape Town (18:00 BST).

Experienced scrum-half McGrath leads Leinster in the absence of skipper Caelan Doris, who is still recovering from shoulder surgery.

Ireland international Sam Prendergast starts at fly-half, while Robbie Henshaw partners Ciaran Frawley at centre after missing Ireland's summer games through injury.

With Hugo Keenan out injured, Jimmy O'Brien starts at full-back, with Tommy O'Brien - who scored two tries on his Ireland debut over the summer - and Jordan Larmour on the wings.

Ireland internationals Jack Boyle and Gus McCarthy join France prop Rabah Slimani in the front row, with Diarmuid Mangan and Brian Deeny behind.

Ryan Baird, Scott Penny and James Culhane make up the back row, while academy prop Andrew Sparrow is set to make his debut off the bench.

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen is without his British and Irish Lions contingent.

The Irish province are hoping to win their 10th title this season after reclaiming the trophy for the first time since 2021 last season.

Leinster beat the Stormers 36-12 when the sides met in Dublin in January, their last visit to DHL Stadium resulted in a 42-12 loss in April 2024.

Leinster: J O'Brien; T O'Brien, Henshaw, Frawley, Larmour; Prendergast, McGrath (capt); Boyle, McCarthy, Slimani, Mangan, Deeny, Baird, Penny, Culhane.

Replacements: McKee, P McCarthy, Sparrow, Deegan, Connors, Gunne, Byrne, Cooney.

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Full-back Hugo Keenan will miss Ireland's November schedule after having hip surgery following the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia.

Keenan, 29, scored the winning try in the second Test that clinched a series victory for Andy Farrell's men over the Wallabies this summer.

The Leinster player had, however, travelled with a pre-existing hip issue and will now miss his side's start to the United Rugby Championship (URC) season, as well as Ireland's November Tests against New Zealand, Japan, Australia and South Africa.

Keenan's injury is not the only absence Leinster will be dealing with in the early part of the season.

Lock Joe McCarthy is also a doubt for Ireland's autumn fixtures because of the foot problem he sustained on that summer tour down under.

Number eight Caelan Doris, who missed the Lions series with a shoulder injury suffered against Northampton Saints in May's Champions Cup semi-final, is expected to return before Christmas.

The remainder of Leinster's Lions contingent returned to training last week.

Leo Cullen's side start their URC title defence against the Stormers in Cape Town on Friday, 26 September.

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Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienaber has signed a contract extension to remain at the province until the end of the 2026-27 campaign.

The 52-year-old joined Leinster in 2023 after guiding South Africa to back-to-back World Cup wins.

He joins attack coach Tyler Bleyendaal and scrum specialist Robin McBryde - a former Wales hooker and forwards coach - in signing new deals to remain with the URC champions.

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen told the club's website: "I think we can all appreciate the work that Robin, Jacques and Tyler have done but also the mark that they have left and are leaving on Leinster in their time here.

"They have all brought tonnes of relevant experience and a different perspective to how we do things, and I think that's hugely important for the development of our group, that we hear other voices and other ways of operating.

"It's not just around the senior team as well, you see it with our academy players and the work that they do visiting the clubs and the schools and giving freely of their time. I'm delighted to have them all on board again."

Nienaber's previous contract tied him to Leinster only until 2026.

Leinster also confirmed their former out-half Emmet Farrell has been appointed to a new role of provincial kicking coach but will remain as kicking coach for the senior side.

Brian Colclough has taken over Farrell's former position as lead performance analyst for Cullen's side.

Leinster begin the defence of their URC title away to the Stormers on 26 September.