Welcome along to our live coverage of Leinster’s Pro12 night out in Glasgow. Some quick updates on the other Irish sides to get you started. Ulster trail Treviso 15-13 as the second-half gets underway in Italy. Peter Nelson got a try for the Ulstermen and John Afoa is on to add some grunt to the scrum. Connacht lead Dragons 3-0 after 14 minutes in Newport.

We’ll have full match reports on both games after the final whistles. I will strive to keep you updated too.

Here are your teams for tonight’s encounter:

Leinster: I Nacewa; D Kearney, B Macken, A Goodman, F Carr; I Madigan, I Boss; J McGrath, A Dundon, J Hagan; L Cullen (c), Q Roux; K McLaughlin, S Jennings, S O’Brien.

Replacements: T Sexton, J O’Connell, M Moore, D Toner, J Murphy, J Cooney, N Reid, A Conway.

Joe Schmidt will be delighted to have seven internationals in his starting XV, with O’Brien and Nacewa the headline returnees. Kevin McLaughlin once again finds himself out of the loop with Ireland but Leinster supporters will welcome him back to their back row with open arms.

Glasgow: P Murchie; T Seymour, A Dunbar, P Horne, DTH van der Merwe; R Jackson, S Kennedy; O Fainga’anuku, P MacArthur, M Cusack; T Swinson, T Ryder; R Harley, C Fusaro (c), J Strauss.

Replacements: F Gillies, G Hunter, M Low, J Eddie, R Wilson, G Graham, S Wight, B McGuigan.

The Warriors players to look out for are DTH van der Merwe, a man I had the pleasure of interviewing on a couple of occasions, and menacing South African back-row Josh Strauss.

Isa Nacewa’s last start came against Scarlets in the Heineken Cup and he did this [below] to George North.

YouTube credit: Tap Tackle

Ulster now lead after 57 minutes as a Niall O’Connor penalty puts them 16-15 up.

Jamie Hagan with a decent Movember effort – it’s not a Neil McComb but it’s a good try.

We’re off!

Strauss, Josh that is, has another superb beard. He steals Aaron Dundon’s first attempt at a lineout. Dundon gets a second crack but is whistled for a crooked throw. First scrum for an understrength Leinster scrum – they get the shove on and win a penalty. Excellent stuff.

Madigan with a chance to put the Blues ahead. 38 metres out and to the left of the posts. He lands it. Glasgow 0-3 Leinster.

Connacht are 3-3 with Dragons but both Andrew Browne and Jason Harris-Wright have been yellow-carded. 13 versus 15 for 10 minutes.

Van der Merwe loses possession to O’Brien before Andrew Goodman, playing in the centre, has a kick blocked down. Luckily for him play is called back for a scrum and Isaac Boss breaks up the blindside.

Half-time at Rodney Parade and Connacht trail 8-3 but are back to 14 men. Ulster are one point up with five minutes left on the clock in Italy.

Leinster drive forward and a massive gap appears in the Warriors defence. McLaughlin puts the head down as he did not have the support. The ball is retained and Brendan Macken almost jinks through. Play called back for an earlier penalty for offside. Madigan might go for the posts to stretch the lead.

Madigan is ordered to kick for the corner as the visitors show attacking intent. The gamble backfires as Warriors turn it over. McLaughlin had presented the ball but was exposed.

A 16-15 win in Italy and, according to their Facebook page, Ulster get out of jail.

Warriors clear their lines after a scrum back and forth and a steal from the haphazard Carr. Goodman breaks but can’t find Macken and it is scrum time again.

Bad clearing kick from Jackson sees Jennings hunt down the ball. Boss then sends Nacewa racing through but he dives too soon for the line and is bundled out of play.

20 minutes gone and Jack McGrath is penalised at the scrum. Glasgow on the attack but not making a dent in the Leinster defence. O’Brien gets the plaudits for super scrambling at the breakdown.

Tom Ryder is yellow-carded after going off his feet and still battling for the ball. Madigan is closer to the posts for this one – 36 metres I reckon – and straight in front of the posts. The kick goes right and wide.

McGrath gets a shrill whistle in his ear as he slips in the scrum. Mike Cusack got the better of him there. Warriors deep in the Leinster 22 now.

Boss box-kicks into the swirling night skies and van der Merwe, a Canadian international, fumbles out of play. Jennings takes the ball at the back of the lineout and Nacewa hares onto an inviting Dundon pass. He is a matter of feet away from getting the opening try but the Glasgow defence regroup just in time.

Another box kick flummoxes the Glasgow backs and Sean Kennedy knocks on. Scrum goes down but Leinster keep possession. They are on the Glasgow 22 now.

Leinster penalised on the Warriors’ tryline and it’s a harsh call at the ruck, against Jennings. Connacht trail Dragons 14-3 after 54 minutes in Wales.

Quinn Roux is in a lot of pain after landing heavily on his shoulder. Devin Toner is on.

Dave Kearney took a great high ball and landed with legs whirring. Highlight of the half so far. Fainga’anuku goes off to be replaced by Gregor Hunter in the front row.

Nothing like cake and Tony Ward’s co-commentary to ease you into the weekend:

HALF-TIME – Leinster lead by three after a less than amazing first half. The visitors on top but Joe Schmidt will tear them a new one for camping on the Glasgow tryline no less than three times and squandering each opportunity.

Let’s get the party started with a poll. Sean O’Brien is playing No. 8 for Leinster. With Chris Henry at openside flanker for Ireland tomorrow and Peter O’Mahony taking the role for Munster in their last Heineken Cup game, who should start at 7 for Ireland against Wales in the Six Nations.

Leinster back out on the pitch and here trot Glasgow. Jackson gets us started.

Late yellow card in Wales as the Dragons’ Evans is sent to the sin bin. Should be too late as Connacht trail 14-3.

More mistakes in Glasgow as knock-ons and poor scrums set a dangerous tone. Dave Kearney juggles the ball like it is a bar of soap as Leinster try to run the ball out of defence. Jennings saves the day as he bundles out a Warriors attacker.

45 minutes on the clock in Glasgow and Leinster still 3-0 up. We got a request for an update on the Munster Senior Cup Final – Cork Constitution lead U.L Bohemians 10-7 after 54 minutes. Sounds like a humdinger compared to this. Bring on Jordi Murphy says I.

Both captains given a talking to for woeful scrummaging and back-chat to the ref. Here comes another yellow card and Fusaro marches off. O’Brien peeled off the back of the scrum and flicked a switch-pass to Nacewa, who got very close to the tryline again. Leinster must emerge with points from this.

Madigan gets it through the posts as sheets of rain descend on the players. Glasgow 0-6 Leinster and a man advantage for nine more minutes.

Devin Toner has ram-raided Peter Horne into the sodden turf. Huge challenge there. Leinster concede a penalty moments later [53 mins] but Horne’s kick sails left and wide of the mark.

The rain continues to billow down as Wight replaces Jackson. Strauss’ handling betrays him again but Glasgow win the scrum as Hagan is penalised. Kickable chance for the Scots but Horne only manages to squelch an effort under the posts for a goal. No points for that dross.

Dave Kearney delivers a rare first-half highlight. (©INPHO/Ian MacNicol)

Madigan in the centre of things with a good kick, poor up-and-under and a knock on. Tom Sexton in for Leinster as replacement hooker.

Another Leinster scrum creaks and Scott Wight takes charge for the penalty kick. His effort is better but still misses handsomely. The European champions survive again. O’Brien is then penalised for a high tackle on Strauss but it is not in range for a kick.

Jamie Hagan might soon find himself on British & Irish Cup duty the moment Mike Ross and new signing Michael Bent return from the Irish camp. He is pinged at the scrum again and replaced soon after by 19-year old prop Martin Moore. 12 minutes left here.

Peter O’Mahony and Sean O’Brien level at 37% in our ‘Ireland No. 7′ poll. The Tullow tank gains some hard yards straight up the middle but yet another knock-on gives Glasgow the scrum. Toner at fault this time.

An Isaac Boss kick is charged down but fortuitously falls to Toner and Madigan hoofs clear. Three-man lineout called by Glasgow and three minutes on the clock. They claim it and pile forward but they knock-on in a promising position. Five minutes left.

Attacking scrum for Glasgow after Kearney commits the 782nd knock-on of the match. At least it feels that way. Boss thunders through a wide open gate to pressurise Kennedy but Madigan kicks out on the full to give Warriors another chance at claiming their seventh win in a row.

Penalty to Glasgow as the clock ticks 80 minutes and Madigan is yellow carded. Warriors call for an attacking scrum!

FULL-TIME and a win for Leinster. More handling errors in the final minute. The Blues will climb into the top four positions after that. It wasn’t pretty but a win is a win.

Cheers for keeping me company. I’m off to queue in the chilly night for a fresh copy of Leinster 6-0 Glasgow: Pain in the Rain on DVD. A great stocking-filler.