Dan Sheehan captains Leinster with Caelan Doris misisng out against Sale
Michael Bolton
Dan Sheehan will captain Leinster in their Champions Cup quarter-final against Sale in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Sheehan takes over as captain, with Caelan Doris out due to concussion protocols.
In his absence, Jack Conan moves to the number eight position, with Ryan Baird moving to the back-row, and James Ryan coming back into the second row.
Andrew Porter misses out with a knock he picked up against Edinburgh, which means Alex Usanov will make his first start in the Champions Cup.
Garry Ringrose is back to partner Jamie Osborne in the centre, with Rieko Ioane moving to the left wing, and Tommy O'Brien starting on the right.
Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Tommy O’Brien, Garry Ringrose, Jamie Osborne, Rieko Ioane; Harry Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Alex Usanov, Dan Sheehan (capt), Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, James Ryan, Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan. Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Jerry Cahir, Thomas Clarkson, Max Deegan, Scott Penny, Luke McGrath, Ciarán Frawley, Robbie Henshaw.
Sale Sharks: Joe Carpenter; Tom Roebuck, Rob du Preez, Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, Tom O’Flaherty; George Ford, Gus Warr; Si McIntyre, Ethan Caine, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Ernst van Rhyn (capt) Ben Bamber, Jacques Vermeulen, Sam Dugdale, Dan du Preez. Replacements: Alfie Longstaff, Ralph McEachran, James Harper, Reuben Logan, Jos Gilmore, Dom Hanson, Marius Louw, Alex Wills.
Cian Prendergast will captain Connacht on his 100th appearance for the province in their Challenge Cup quarter-final away to Montpellier.
Paul Boyle returns at number eight, with Shayne Bolton coming from injury to play on the wing.
Sean Naughton starts at fly-half, with Sam Gilbert at fly-half.
Connacht: Sam Gilbert; Shayne Bolton, Cathal Forde, Bundee Aki, Chay Mullins; Sean Naughton, Matthew Devine; Billy Bohan, Dylan Tierney-Martin, Sam Illo, Joe Joyce, Darragh Murray, Cian Prendergast (capt), Shamus Hurley-Langton, Paul Boyle.
Replacements: Matthew Victory, Peter Dooley, Jack Aungier, Josh Murphy, Sean O’Brien, Ben Murphy, Jack Carty, John Devine.
