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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Robert Hynes

What TV channel and time is Connacht v Leinster on tonight? Team news and more

Connacht and Leinster lock horns in an inter-pro derby in Galway tonight to kick-off the weekend's rugby action.

The Westerners come into the game on the back of a 20-11 victory over Munster last week, while Leinster continued their 100% start to the season with a win over the Sharks.

Connacht have made five changes from last week's win, while Leinster have made ten, with Tadhg Furlong making his first appearance of the season, but Johnny Sexton is not involved.

You can follow our LIVE Blog of the game right here

Here's what you need to know:

Where and when is it?

The clash takes place at the Sportsground on Friday, October 14.

What time is kick-off?

The action gets under way at 7.35pm.

A view of the Sportsground (©INPHO/James Crombie)

What channel is it on?

RTE Two and Premier Sports 1 will both show the fixture live from 7pm.

Connacht team

Conor Fitzgerald; John Porch, Byron Ralston, David Hawkshaw, Mack Hansen; Jack Carty (capt), Colm Reilly; Peter Dooley, Dave Heffernan, Finlay Bealham; Niall Murray, Gavin Thornbury; Josh Murphy, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Paul Boyle.

Replacements: Grant Stewart, Denis Buckley, Jack Aungier, Oisin Dowling, Conor Oliver, Caolin Blade Tom Daly, Ciaran Booth.

Leinster team

Jimmy O'Brien; Liam Turner, Garry Ringrose (capt), Charlie Ngatai, Rob Russell; Ross Byrne, Cormac Foley; Ed Byrne, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Ross Molony, James Ryan; Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.

Replacements: John McKee, Andrew Porter, Michael Ala'alatoa, Joe McCarthy, Martin Moloney, Nick McCarthy, Ciarán Frawley, Robbie Henshaw.

Quotes corner

Connacht hooker Dave Heffernan: "We've delivered great performances before but we need to just back it up. It's that consistency that we've probably lacked over the last couple of seasons.

"Bringing that out every week is something that we've spoken about as a non-negotiable for us now. That would go a long way to us winning more matches."

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen: "We’re always looking for coaches, players, and that’s the time of year it is. There’s always the planning piece in the background. A lot of it happens pre-season, a lot of the business gets done.

"A lot of the conversations happen at that time of the year which sort of drift along through to Christmas, really.

"We’re always in this evolution state, aren’t we? That’s important to happen because I think if it stays the same it can get stale.

"My son is a Liverpool fan, he’s scratching his head as to what is going on there at the moment.

"There were people in his class that used to support Arsenal, and because of the peer pressure of kids that age, they started supporting Liverpool. If they just held firm they’d be sitting top of the table, but they can’t change back!

"So, patience. Things can change quickly, yeah. There’s a few of them I was slagging. Two of them got rid of their Arsenal kits!"

Betting odds

Connacht win: 7/2

Leinster win: 1/5

Draw: 25/1

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