Scotland internationals return for Leinster trip

Stuart Hogg, Tommy Seymour, Mark Bennett, Finn Russell, Fraser Brown, Tim Swinson and Rob Harley have been named in the starting XV, while Jonny Gray and Adam Ashe are both included on the bench.

Hogg returns at full-back, while Seymour comes in on the right wing and Canadian international DTH van der Merwe continues on the opposite side.

Peter Horne and Mark Bennett form the centre partnership, while Russell comes in at stand-off and Niko Matawalu keeps his place at scrum-half.

Alex Allan comes in at loosehead, Brown returns at hooker and after a number of stand-out performances for Scotland under-20s Zander Fagerson starts his second game for the Warriors at tighthead.

Al Kellock captains the side for the 150th time in the second-row, making his 154th appearance in a Warriors shirt and he'll pack down with Tim Swinson in the engine room.

Rob Harley, Chris Fusaro and Josh Strauss continue in the back-row.

Scrum-half Henry Pyrgos is named on the bench after recovering from a knee injury and he could make his first appearance since the narrow to defeat to Bath in January.

Glasgow Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend said: "We're looking forward to returning to action after our recent break and we've been boosted this week by the return of our Scotland internationals.

"We've had some great battles with Leinster over the past few seasons and we're expecting another one tomorrow evening.

"It'll be the first time we've returned to the RDS since last season's final and we know we'll need to play our best rugby if we're to come away with a positive result against the defending champions."

Glasgow Warriors team to play Leinster, GUINNESS PRO12, RDS Arena, Friday 27 March (kick-off 7.35pm) - live on BBC Two Scotland:

15. Stuart Hogg
14. Tommy Seymour
13. Mark Bennett
12. Peter Horne
11. DTH van der Merwe
10. Finn Russell
9. Niko Matawalu

1. Alex Allan
2. Fraser Brown
3. Zander Fagerson
4.Tim Swinson
5. Al Kellock (Captain)
6. Rob Harley
7. Chris Fusaro
8. Josh Strauss

Replacements:

16. Pat MacArthur
17. Jerry Yanuyanutawa
18. Mike Cusack
19. Jonny Gray
20. Adam Ashe
21. Henry Pyrgos
22. Connor Braid
23. Richie Vernon

Not available due to injury: Rossouw de Klerk (groin), Alex Dunbar (knee), Ryan Grant (knee), Tyrone Holmes (knee), Rory Hughes (back), Sean Lamont (knee), Sean Maitland (shoulder), Peter Murchie (foot), Euan Murray (head/ face), Gordon Reid (knee), Duncan Weir (arm) and Jon Welsh (hand).