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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Michael Scully

Leo Cullen backs Ciarán Frawley to shine at full back for Leinster v Munster

Leo Cullen is backing Ciarán Frawley to shine after naming the Skerries man at full back for Leinster for tomorrow's Aviva Stadium clash with Munster.

There are changes galore on both sides for the URC derby encounter, with the hosts making nine from the side that beat Connacht last Friday and Munster making eight from the team that saw off the Bulls.

Johnny Sexton returns as skipper as Cullen has delivered a statement of intent with his line-up.

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Sexton will go up against Joey Carbery is an intruiging battle of Ireland's top choice no 10s

The selection of Frawley, who is the other out-half named by Andy Farrell for Ireland's Autumn series, at full-back for Leinster is one of the stand-out choices on both sides.

"Ciarán's a great footballer, we have had some disruptions and injuries to the back-three at the moment and we've a back three with Jamie Osborne on the wing there, Jimmy (O'Brien) has moved on to the right," said Cullen.

"Ciarán's come back in after that knock to his shoulder, he's come off the bench and played 10 minutes last week.

Leo Cullen (©INPHO/Bryan Keane)

"He gives us extra distribution, he's another pair of hands and a very good broken field runner as well.

"He's played 15 in the past for us, it's good with Johnny, Robbie and Garry - there's plenty of experience in the team.

"I'm looking forward to seeing how Ciarán goes."

With five wins banked, Leinster are top of the table and have selected a much stronger side on paper than their provincial rivals.

"It's a huge game for both teams, it's great to be here at the Aviva and I believe there's going to be a huge crowd, on a nice day - it hasn't been fantastic this week but conditions are meant to be good for tomorrow," added Cullen.

"When there's an Ireland squad announced in the middle of these weeks everyone has to be able to deal with the consequences of selection and non-selection in some cases.

"We've had a good week, looking forward to playing here at the Aviva in front of a big crowd.

"It's another derby game.

"You can see how hotly contested the derby games have been before now, we were a bit fortunate to get out with a win against Connacht last weekend.

"Parts of our performance were good, other parts we feel like there's a good bit to go and that's what we'll focus on this week.

"A good challenge ahead."

Asked if the rivalry between the sides is as strong as it was, given Leinster's dominance over the last number of years, Cullen replied: "Definitely.

"There's going to be 45,000 people here tomorrow and when we started off in the old Dooradoyle days there'd be 350 people there.

"It's a huge occasion, the nature of the week on week - that's the challenge.

"For Irish rugby it has to be a point of difference, the way the provinces are supported, the sense of identity that each provincial team has - and they have their own unique identity.

"It's important we celebrate that, we're expecting a real, physical challenge and that's what we've prepared for this week because we think that's coming from Munster."

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