Leinster Coach Micheal Cheika knows victory this weekend is crucial if the current league leaders are to maintain their push for the Celtic League crown.
“We’ve got a maximum of 25 points to play for and it’s important that we use our two remaining home games to get as many points as we can,” he said. “We are striving to maintain a consistent peak performance which takes practice.
“That’s a challenge both to the mind as well as to physical preparation. We’ve brought several new aspects into our play for the next few weeks.
“The key is to make sure that the players keep on learning. We’ll be putting out as strong a team as we can because we want to stay competitive.”
Cheika says the Scarlets will be tricky proposition despite their Powergen Cup final defeat last weekend.
“There’s no better team to play than Llanelli Scarlets who will be very tough opponents. I watched the Powergen Cup final last weekend and if they kept going in the same (in the same vein) as they did in the first half then they would have won.
“Maybe Simon Easterby going off affected them? I have been hugely impressed by them, it was a great effort to get to the final.”
Meanwhile, Leinster will hold a ‘Family Day’ before this Friday’s game. This will be Leinster Supporters final chance to cheer on the team before the Heineken Cup semi final against Munster next week.
Leinster:
Backs (12): Guy Easterby, Brian O’Riordan, Felipe Contepomi, Girvan Dempsey, Brian O’Driscoll, Kieran Lewis, Shane Horgan, Denis Hickie, Gordon D’Arcy, Rob Kearney, John Hepworth, Gary Brown
Forwards (13): Will Green, Reggie Corrigan, Ronan McCormack, Emmett Byrne, David Blaney, Brian Blaney, Malcolm O’Kelly, Bryce Williams, Cameron Jowitt, Niall Ronan, Keith Gleeson, Jamie Heaslip, Eric Miller
