Welcome along to Lansdowne Road, from where we’ll be providing live updates as Leinster look for their fourth consecutive victory in Pool 1 of the Heineken Cup. Conditions are far from ideal, so this may not the the free-flowing spectacle we saw from Matt O’Connor’s men last weekend.

Get in touch with us in the usual ways to let us know how you see this game going…

There are late changes to both teams to inform you of. Sean O’Brien failed a fitness test on his dead leg, meaning Shane Jennings starts and Kevin McLaughlin comes onto the bench. For the Saints, Dom Waldouck has withdrawn, with George North moving into 13 and Tom Collins starting on the left wing.

With those changes taken into account, here are the teams for this evening:

Leinster: Rob Kearney; Dave Kearney, Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald; Ian Madigan, Eoin Reddan; Jack McGrath, Sean Cronin, Mike Ross; Devin Toner, Mike McCarthy; Rhys Ruddock, Shane Jennings, Jamie Heaslip (capt.).

Replacements: Aaron Dundon, Michael Bent, Martin Moore, Leo Cullen, Kevin McLaughlin, John Cooney, Jimmy Gopperth, Zane Kirchner.

Northampton: Ken Pisi; Jamie Elliott, George North, Luther Burrell, Tom Collins; Steve Myler, Lee Dickson; Alex Waller, Dylan Hartley (capt.), Salesi Ma’afu, Courtney Lawes, Christian Day, Calum Clark, Tom Wood, Samu Manoa.

Replacements: Mikey Haywood, Ethan Waller, Tom Mercey, Sam Dickinson, Phil Dowson, Kahn Fotuali’i, Glenn Dickson, Tom Stephenson.

Moving North into the centre is a potential game-changer for the Saints. The damage he did there for Wales against Australia in the second half of that November Test is certainly fresh in the memory. Will O’Driscoll and D’Arcy’s experience negate the 21-year-old’s pace and power?

How big a loss is O’Brien for Leinster? With the possibility of a stop-start game this evening, his scrapping would have been useful, although Jennings is very capable in that regard too.

Just in case you need a reminder of what happened in this fixture last weekend, here are the full highlights. A confidence-booster with just over 30 minutes until kick-off.

YouTube credit: LeinsterrugbyTV

Both teams are out on the pitch going through their warm-ups here and the great news is that conditions have really cleared up. The wind has died and the pitch looks in great nick. We didn’t think we’d be saying this earlier today, but it looks we will have good conditions for some of the rugby we saw last weekend.

Here’s a shot of Dylan Hartley and Jamie Heaslip getting the coin toss out of the way earlier. The referee for this evening’s game is Frenchman Jerome Garces. Sébastien Clouté and Thomas Charabas [both of the FFR] will serve as his assistants, while Eric Gauzins is on TMO duties.

©INPHO/Billy Stickland

Here are a few pre-match stats highlighting Leinster’s strength in the Heineken Cup so far this season:

• Matt O’Connor’s men have conceded a competition-low of 23 points in the opening three rounds
• They have the best tackle success rate of any club this season [92%]
• Leinster have won 15 of their last 16 home games in the Heineken Cup, losing only to Clermont here at the Aviva last season
• Ian Madigan and Jimmy Gopperth have a goal-kicking success rate of 83% this season
• Luke Fitzgerald is the competition’s joint top try-scorer thanks to his hattrick last weekend

A message of good luck for Leinster from our reader, David Bridgeman:

Fingers crossed for the same intensity as last week, good luck the Blues.

Where do you think this game is going to be won and lost? We’re not far off from getting underway here in Dublin, so have a quick read of our three key battles.

And get your predictions in before we get underway!

The teams are out on the pitch, with Leinster bursting out to a fantastic reception. The PA system is in full ‘Leinstertainment’ swing, but in fairness the crowd are working up their own racket too. Northampton had a bit of a wait out on the turf there for Leinster to emerge. Garces readies the players…

1 minute – And we’re away. Northampton attempt to retrieve their drop-off but knock-on in the process. Leinster with a scrum wide on the left outside their own 22.

3 minutes – Daring stuff from Leinster! They win a penalty from the opening scrum and Madigan cross field kicks it to Dave Kearney on the other touch-line. An extended period of possession follows as Leinster put width on the ball. Heaslip and Rob Kearney with strong carries, before Madigan puts a low grubber into touch. Really positive start by O’Connor’s men and showing their attacking intentions early on.

5 minutes – There’s the first error of the evening though, as Shane Jennings knocks-on from a Leinster line-out inside the Saints half. A late replacement for O’Brien, and perhaps Jennings is just taking a minute or two to get into this.

5 minutes – Well the Saints very nearly went the length of the field from the resulting scrum! Tom Collins, a late replacement himself, hacked the ball down the left-hand touchline and almost won the race. Rob Kearney concedes a penalty for holding him back and the Saints go to the corner and their maul…

TRY FOR NORTHAMPTON! George North goes over just to the right of the posts.

7 minutes – An excellent, powerful try from the Saints there. Their maul went nowhere but they were patient in battering Leinster’s line, before releasing the ball to the right, where North burst through two tackles to touch down. Myler adds the conversion.

Leinster 0-7 Northampton

8 minutes – A chance for Leinster to bounce back here after that early shock. They’ve got a line-out on the left, 26 metres out, after Dickson’s box kick failed to get distance…

10 minutes – Northampton’s defence is looking a lot more aggressive already this evening. Leinster go through at least seven phases of possession, testing out the Premiership side but in the end, they stray offside and Madigan has a chance…

PENALTY FOR LEINSTER! Leinster 3-7 Northampton (Madigan ’11)

13 minutes  – This is definitely a different Saints team to the one we saw last weekend. They reclaimed possession off that re-start before stretching Leinster’s defence and eventually putting a smart tactical kick into the left-hand corner through Myler. O’Connor would have been aware that Northampton would pose an altogether better challenge today, and that’s been the case so far.

This was the moment North stretched over to score in the seventh minute. Massive man and his switch to 13 is looking good so far:

©INPHO/Donall Farmer

17 minutes – Oooh, unlucky for Leinster there. A really poor kick from Pisi skewed off his foot to Sean Crnin, who was in acres of space on the left-hand side near the halfway line. However, the hooker spilled the ball. He would have got quite a gallop on there if he’d held on.

And now Rob Kearney does the same from another poorly-judged Saints’ kick. Slippy ball out there obviously…

19 minutes – Leinster highly content to kick the ball back to Northampton here, and the Saints are responding in kind. We have to say that Mallinder’s men are winning that aerial ping-pong so far and there’s a penalty after Rob Kearney holds on in the tackle following a Saint’s bomb. Myler puts it into touch 22 metres out on the left…

21 minutes – Real pressure from Northampton again there. They originally lost possession in midfield from the line-out, but chased back to clean up O’Driscoll’s hacked clearance kick. From there, Mallinder’s men went through the phases down the right before Lawes absolutely smashed it up the middle. North spills possession though and Leinster have a scrum underneath their own posts. Garces upgrades that to a penalty after Waller goes to deck.

23 minutes – That’s better from Leinster. Strong carries from D’Arcy and Dave Kearney eventually lead to O’Driscoll busting through off a Ross offload. The centre’s own offload is loose though and now the Saints counter attack down the right! Leinster decide to cut their loses and concede the penalty inside their 22, wide on the right. It was North who burst away on the counter, a thrilling and frightening sight. The Saints go to the corner…

26 minutes – We’re going to the TMO here for a decision after the Saints’ maul powered over the try-line…

26 minutes – NO TRY! But the Saints have another penalty and they’re going to the corner once again. Confidence…

28 minutes – That’s brilliant, brilliant defence by Leinster! Jamie Heaslip, Mike Ross and Mike McCarthy all make massive hits as the Saints go after their second try inside the home team’s 22. Leinster trust their line speed and batter them back though, with Heaslip eventually booting the ball clear after a turnover.

30 minutes – Leinster win a scrum on halfway after a Saints forward pass and Madigan puts a clever kick into the right-hand corner. Excellent maul defence forces Dickson into another rushed box kick and Leinster finally have possession with a line-out 30 metres out on the right. It would be good to see them keep the ball here or at least attack with ball in hand. Lots of kicking from O’Connor’s men so far and the Saints have their tails up.

31 minutes – Very frustrating. Jennings drops his line-out take and possession immediately goes back to the visitors. That was a good chance for Leinster to finally enjoy territorial advantage. We must say, the Saints’ fans are working up some decent volume here too. There aren’t too many of them, but they’re certainly vocal. Why wouldn’t they be, given the strong opening half an hour from their side.

Leinster could do with getting the likes of D’Arcy onto the ball more often, even if it’s just through direct carries in midfield. Not a lot of possession for the home team in the last 20 minutes or so…

©INPHO/Billy Stickland

34 minutes – Rob Kearney produces a second superb kick in two minutes, drilling the ball low into the Saint’s right-hand defensive corner after Leinster spin the ball wide off a scrum. The fullback is having another good outing here so far. Kearney really is in excellent form this season, a leader for this Leinster side.

37 minutes – That’s poor from Leinster. From a scrum on the left, inside the Northampton half Madigan looks to move the ball wide, but it’s inaccurate and well behind his centres. Kearney scrambles back and is forced to hack the ball into touch. Madigan will be very annoyed with that play, particularly as his passing is so often a strong point of his game. Leinster’s attacking accuracy so far hasn’t been anywhere near last weekend’s standards.

39 minutes – Penalty to the Saints, and they’ll be having a shot at goal. That all came from the poor Madigan pass, allowing the visitors to go on the attack and resulting in Leinster’s defence coming offside. Myler lines up the kick just before half time…

HALF TIME – Leinster 3-7 Northampton

Myler completely drags his kick off to the left of the posts, bad miss. And Graces signals for the interval.

So what did you make of that first half? Leinster far less accurate in their attacking play and kicking game than they were last weekend, but their defence has been solid apart from for the North try. Stopping those two driven mauls from the Saints between the 25th and 30th minutes could be crucial and should give Leinster confidence.

The Saints are a different team so far, as we expected. They’re massively fired up and showing far more aggression in contact that last weekend. Scrappy encounter so far, but it’s hugely physical and for that reason, it’s been intriguing to watch.

Not a bad 140-character summation of affairs so far in Dublin from the Second Captains lads here:

Via Twitter.

Here’s TheScore.ie reader Shane McDonnell’s thoughts on the game so far. There’s a key man missing from the Leinster effort in his opinion.

Exactly what I thought Northampton would bring to game! O’Brien some loss.

Drop us a message through the usual lines to let us know what you thought of that first half. How do you see this game playing out after the break?

Here’s a nice photo of the moment Brian O’Driscoll broke through the Saints’ line in that first half, leaving Dylan Hartley in his wake. Unfortunately, the centre couldn’t find a teammate with his offload on that occasion.

©INPHO/Billy Stickland

The teams are back out and neither side has decided on any half-time changes. Madigan observes the scene, ready to get a crucial 40 minutes underway for Leinster…

41 minutes - And there’s a big error from Dickson, as the scrum-half inexplicably drops Madigan’s re-start under no pressure at all. Scrum to Leinster five metres out…

44 minutes – Good defence from the Saints in that long passage of Leinster pressure. O’Connor’s men pounding the try-line repeatedly with their forwards, before Madigan sprayed it wide and Kearney almost released O’Driscoll on the left. The Saints were actually driving Leinster backwards, but they conceded a penalty in doing so and Madigan is going to have a go from 23 metres out, just to the left of the sticks.

PENALTY! Leinster 6-7 Northampton (Madigan ’46)

47 minutes – It was important that Leinster came away from that sustained period of territory and possession with points to show for it, particularly as Northampton failed to do that twice in the first half. Defending to do now for the home side as Myler sticks a penalty into the right-hand corner…

49 minutes – And defend Leinster do! A wonderful turnover penalty from Sean ‘Nugget’ Cronin just metres out from the Leinster line allows them to clear away through Madigan. The Ireland hooker showed superb speed and agility to get into position there.

50 minutes – That’s more scrappy play from Leinster as they attempt to exit their half. Toner took the line-out but his pop off the top to Reddan was inaccurate and the scrum-half put Dave Kearney under all sorts of pressure with his pass, which is knocked-on. The Saints then absolutely monster Leinster’s scrum and wins the penalty. Myler sticks it into the left-hand corner and there’s more try-line defending for the home side to be done…

53 minutes - Another penalty for the Saints as Leinster drag down the maul. Myler puts that one into the corner for another effort at the try-line.

54 minutes - But Leinster hold out yet again! The Saints are really throwing everything at the home side when they get penalties. However, it’s Samu Manoa who knocks-on a couple of metres out and Leinster will have a scrum. We have a short pause though as Lawes and a few other Saints exchange handbags with their Leinster counterparts. Mike Ross clearly not happy about Alex Waller’s scrummaging technique either.

55 minutes - Leinster need to clear their lines here and get some possession. This game has largely been about O’Connor’s men defending their try-line and keeping the Saints out. The home team could do with getting into the Northampton half again.

56 minutes - That said, Leinster are defending superbly. So many excellent turnovers.

57 minutes – Magic from Luke Fitzgerald! The left wing takes a pass from D’Arcy and hares away down the left, beating three defenders with his sheer pace as well as stepping inside North. The break comes to nothing though, as North gets back to win a brilliant turnover penalty.

58 minutes - Kevin McLaughlin comes on for Rhys Ruddock, who has put in another strong defensive shift but didn’t see too much of the ball.

Michael Bent is also on the pitch, replacing Jack McGrath. Another promising outing by the 24-year-old, including a surging run inside the Saints’ 22 before Madigan’s second penalty.

59 minutes – Leinster have packed in the kicking game and are now attempting to play the ball out of their own half more often. That leads to Tom Wood conceding a penalty for hands in the ruck and Madigan boots it down the left-hand touchline. Leinster’s throw 35 metres out…

61 minutes – Leinster really lacking in shape on that attack. First, D’Arcy took off down the left completely on his own after the line-out maul. Then Madigan’s loop play with O’Driscoll was forced, leading to a good steal by Clark for the Saints. Poor Leinster attack that time.

Zane Kirchner is on for Dave Kearney, while Mike Ross heads off to be replaced by Martin Moore.

63 minutes – Oooh very, very nearly a try for the Saints! Leinster’s rush defence let them down as North slipped Ken Pisi into a hole in the outside centre channel. The Saints’ fullback was hauled down by a despairing Kearney, and tried to make a one-handed offload to Elliot on the right wing. The pass was just behind the winger though and Leinster survive…

64 minutes – The Saints have been awarded a penalty at the next scrum after new man Michael Bent went straight to deck. Myler lines it up…

PENALTY! Leinster 6-10 Northampton (Myler ’65)

66 minutes - Leinster need to make something happen very soon. The Saints are on top again and were so close to a second try when Pisi broke through there. Mallinder’s men are starting to really get on top at the breakdown too. Kearney makes a half-break but there’s another turnover penalty. The Saints go back on the attack in Leinster’s half…

68 minutes – Excellent technical work from Devin Toner at that defensive maul. The lanky lock managed to get in underneath the ball and hold the maul up off the deck. Saints fail to get a shove on and it’s a turnover of possession. Leinster shift the ball wide off that scrum, but Kirchner ends up getting knocked into touch. Too lateral again from the home side.

The attendance has been announced as 47,370.

71 minutes – More frustrating play from what has been an exceptionally sloppy line-out. Leinster were well set in the Saints’ half on the right-hand touchline, but Cronin’s throw wasn’t met by a jumper and it’s turned over. Northampton kick out and Leinster attack again…

72 minutes – Penalty for Leinster. Hartley makes a stupid decision to have a go at the ball in a midfield ruck and gets pinged by Garces. Straight in front of the sticks, Madigan looks to reduce the gap to a single point…

PENALTY! Leinster 9-10 Northampton (Madigan ’73)

No mistake from the Leinster out-half there and Leinster just need one more score. Leo Cullen enters the fray in place of Mike McCarthy.

©INPHO/Billy Stickland

74 minutes – But Leinster concede a penalty of their own, it’s Jennings who gets done this time. Looked like offside. Myler from out to the right, 40 metres form goal… He’s well, well wide with that effort. Really failed to connect.

78 minutes – Saints power forward through the maul, but Myler attempts a grubber through immediately after and O’Driscoll manages to block it. The Leinster centre hacks clear and Fitzgerald very nearly wins the chase. However, the Saints recover, win another breakdown penalty and kick back down to the Leinster 22, on the right-hand side. The Maul picks up speed again…

DROP GOAL! Leinster 9-13 Northampton (Fotuali’i ’79)

Genius stuff from the Samoan, who is just on the pitch. Picks the ball from the bottom of a ruck 8 metres out and drops it over with ease.

80 minutes – Heaslip breaks forward… Huge line-break and Leinster are in the Saints’ 22….

80 minutes – Still Leinster come forward… Kearney goes close…

80 minutes – More Leinster attack, so, so close now. Saints defend for their lives…

TRY FOR NORTHAMPTON!! OH MY WORD!

That’s not a typo! The Saints have scored. Heaslip spilled possession with Leinster looking likely to score and Elliot scooped up the loose ball and went the length of the field!

TRY! Leinster 9-18 Northampton (Elliot ’80)

That’s it, it’s all over! Myler misses the touchline conversion from out to the left. Wow, what a finish. It really looked like Leinster were going to steal it at the absolute death. If Heaslip has got his pass away, Leinster would have scored the winning try. However, the No. 8 spilled the ball in his haste and Elliot gleefully pounced to go the length of the field.

The Saints were deserved winners here in Dublin, if truth is told. It was a complete reversal of roles from last weekend. Mallinder’s men dominated the collisions and were the more accurate side. Leinster a mere shadow of the team that hammered the Saints over in Franklin’s Gardens.

This loss makes a home quarter-final look a lot less likely for Leinster now. Samu Manoa has been named man of the match for his part in a really physical performance from the Saints forwards.

We’re off to hear what the coaches and captains have to say about that game. Thanks for joining us as always, and we’d love to hear your reactions to the game in the comments section below. Cheers!