CHEIKA EXPECTING TOUGH BATTLE

The Scarlets have lost just once in their past six matches in all competitions: 14-48 at London Wasps in the European Cup on 18 December, and have won seven in a row in all competitions at home since Edinburgh won 21-15 at Stradey Park on 2 September.

“Llanelli are probably the strongest Welsh side at the moment,” said Cheika. “They possess a lot of pace in their backline and they’re on a strong run of form in Stradey (Park), so it’s vital that we build on what we’ve been doing over the last few weeks.”

Leinster have won three matches in a row in the Celtic League with a “triple crown” of victories against their fellow Irish provinces. The Dubliners only visit to Wales so far this season was way back on 4 September where they lost out 20-22 to the Ospreys at Liberty Stadium. They currenly sit in third place in the Celtic League, with 35 points from 11 matches played, and, with the two teams above them (Munster and Edinburgh) clashing this weekend, they have a chance moving up the table with a win over Gareth Jenkins’s Scarlets.

“I’m a big believer in playing in a consistent manner and we need to find a bit more continuity wise. Resting players isn’t really our style so we’ll be looking to field a strong team,” said Cheika. All four previous clashes between these two sides have ended in a win for the home side on the day. Leinster have however won at Stradey twice before: 33-27 in the European Cup in September 1998 and 19-17 in the Celtic League in August 2001 – both matches were against Llanelli RFC.

Leinster Squad: Forwards: Ronan McCormack, Reggie Corrigan, David Blaney, Brian Blaney, Will Green, Emmett Byrne, Adam Byrnes, Bryce Williams, Ben Gissing, Malcolm O’Kelly, Cameron Jowitt, Niall Ronan, Keith Gleeson, Eric Miller, Jamie Heaslip
Backs: Brian O’Riordan, Guy Easterby, John Hepworth, Felipe Contepomi, Denis Hickie, Gary Brown, Rob Kearney, Shane Horgan, Gordon D’Arcy, Kieran Lewis, Brian O’Driscoll, Eoghan Hickey, Girvan Dempsey

Scarlets: Barry Davies; Mark Jones, Matthew Watkins, Regan King, Leigh Burn; Mike Hercus, Dwayne Peel; Craig Dunlea, Matthew Rees, Martyn Madden, Hottie Louw, Adam Jones, Dafydd Jones, Simon Easterby (capt), Alix Popham.
Replacements: John Davies, Craig Hawkins, Vernon Cooper, Gavin Thomas, Clive Stuart-Smith, Gareth Bowen, Garan Evans.