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49 minutes ago
Remember when the Saracens last defeated Leinster in the 2019 Champions Cup final, they had George Kruis (now playing in Japan) and Will Skelton (now in La Rochelle) in their second row, Ben Spencer (currently in the Bath books) and Owen Farrell, who is suspended – in the middle of the back. Liam Williams (Scarlets), Alex Lozowski (on loan at Montpellier) and Titi Lamositele (at Montpellier) also played that day at Newcastle.
They still have an impressive squad, although their bench doesn’t seem as strong as Leinster’s. The key for the Saracens today is the performance of the out-half, Alex Goode, who changes lateral to replace the suspended Farrell.
It’s worth noting that Goode also played half in the quarterfinal stage last year, when Sarries beat the Glasgow Warriors. He stood out that day, although Leinster is a tougher opponent.
They’ve made big calls for this game, the return of Johnny Sexton is inevitable, but the decision to go Will Connors over Josh van der Flier was something of a surprise. Luke McGrath joins Sexton in the back middle with Sean Cronin getting the nod on Ronan Kelleher.
Here are the teams:
Leinster
15. Jordan Larmour
14. Hugo Keenan
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Robbie Henshaw
11. James Lowe
10. Jonathan Sexton (Captain)
9. Luke McGrath
1. Cyan Healy
2. Sean Cronin
3. Andrew Porter
4. Devin toner
5. James Ryan
6. Caelan Doris
7. Will Connors
8. Jack Conan
Replacements
16. Ronan Kelleher
17. Ed Byrne
18. Michael Bent
19. Ryan Baird
20. Josh van der Flier
21. Jamison Gibson-Park
22. Ross Byrne
23. Rory O’Loughlin
Saracens
15 Elliot Daly
14 Alex Lewington
13 Duncan Taylor
12 Brad Barritt (Captain)
11 Sean Maitland
10 Alex Goode
9 Richard Wigglesworth
1 mako vunipola
2 Jamie George
3 Vincent Koch
4 Maro Itoje
5 Tim Swinson
6 Mike Rhodes
7 Jackson Wray
8 Billy Vunipola
Replacements
16 Tom Woolstencroft
17 Richard Barrington
18 Alec Clarey
19 Callum Hunter-Hill
20 Calum Clark
21 Aled Davies
22 Manu Vunipola
23 Sun Morris
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