Leo Cullen has backed Johnny Sexton to have a big impact off the bench against Ulster in the PRO14 final after he was left out of the Leinster starting XV today.
The fly-half drops to the bench, with Ross Byrne stepping up to No 10, as the Blues head coach kept one eye on a Champions Cup quarter final against Saracens on Saturday week.
And ahead of the Aviva Stadium decider tomorrow evening, Cullen stressed the decision wasn't straightforward as he looked to give other players some game time while fighting on two fronts.
"It’s not a straightforward selection for these games," Cullen said on the Sexton omission.
"You go to the end of the season and, if you’re lucky enough to be competing on two fronts, it’s making sure that you have guys able to give a full (account) of themselves on a given day. Trying to balance all the different variables as well, who’s helped us get to this point.
"We’re blessed with the four half-backs we have.
"Johnny will give good impact from the bench whenever that may be, but you have to remember how important Ross has been to the team over the course of this very long season that we’ve had.
He added: "In terms of 9s and 10s, you have to take a lot on in terms of the preparation of a team and the toll that takes.
"Between the four (half-backs), we’re very lucky. We’ve a lot of confidence in them to be able to mix and match like that.
"It’s a 23-man effort, we’ve used 53 players to get to this point. Some of them have moved on to other clubs, that’s the unusual dynamic of this season.
"A lot of guys who are not selected have played a big part in getting us to the final. We’d love to have our friends and families and supporters at the ground, but it’s important to focus on performance at this stage.
"Over the first three weeks of the season we haven’t quite reached where we want to get to yet. So that’s very much at the forefront of our minds, how we direct a strong performance from our end.
"Hopefully conditions are good and we avoid the downpour we had at 7 last Friday."
With the team selection, Cullen has also targeted a strong finish to the game as he expects to make good use of his 23-man panel.
Cullen added: "When you get to these knockout games you’re looking for a bit of freshness and a bit of continuity at the same time. That’s what we’ve gone for.
"There’s a lot of guys not involved in the 23 that can count themselves unlucky because there’s a lot of really close calls.
"We think we’ve a strong 23 that will hopefully represent the 53 that managed to play through the course of the year.
"Ulster, you seen them against Edinburgh, we’re planning for a strong 80-minute game from them, so we need to make sure we have that bit of punch coming off the bench as well."
