Exeter Chiefs coach Rob Baxter has made two changes in his back division where injuries rule out both Phil Dollman and Gonzalo Camacho.
Into the side come Sireli Naqelevuki and Ian Whitten; whilst in the pack Aussie international Dean Mumm is given the nod over James Hanks in the second row.
On the bench, there are recalls also for flanker Ben White and utility back Nic Sestaret.
It would be a fantastic achievement if we could finish with a win, primarily because of the pressure Leinster are under pressure to come here and win and chase a bonus point," said Baxter.
"They will be coming here full-on, which is good for us, and the kind of scenario we want to play in.
"This has been a tough group for us this season, but we've won two out of five games so far, and I would love us to say at the end we've won three out of six. To get a statistic like that, especially in our first season in the Heineken Cup, would be a fantastic achievement and something for us to build from."
The English Premiership side only lost 9-6 when they two sides met in Dublin in the opening game of this Pool and they would relish the chance to become the side that knocked the champions out of the competition.
Meanwhile, Richardt Strauss is named in the starting line up after missing the last month with an ankle injury and, in all, the Ireland hooker is one of three changes to the pack which started last weekend's Round 5 victory.
Sean O'Brien has recovered from illness to join fellow returnee Kevin McLaughlin and Ireland captain Jamie Heaslip in the back row. Strauss, meanwhile, is named in the front row alongside Cian Healy and Mike Ross who is set to make his 80th appearance for the province.
Leo Cullen leads the experienced line up which also sees Brian O'Driscoll resume his centre partnership with Gordon D'Arcy.
O'Driscoll - who is in line to make his 82nd Heineken Cup appearance after featuring off the bench in last weekend's bonus point victory over the Scarlets - is one of two further changes to the backline with Eoin Reddan selected to partner Jonathan Sexton at half back.
Rob Kearney continues in the back three alongside Luke Fitzgerald and Isa Nacewa.
The three-time Heineken Cup winners need all the points on offer to qualify as one of the two runners up for the knock-out stages for European club rugby's premier tournament.
Leinster are facing the prospect of missing out on a place in the last eight of the Heineken Cup for the first time in five years - they last failed to reach the quarter-finals back in 2008.
The teams:
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Ian Whitten, 13 Sireli Naqelevuki, 12 Jason Shoemark, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Kevin Barrett, 8 Richard Baxter, 7 James Scaysbrook, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Dean Mumm, 4 Tom Hayes (c), 3 Hoani Tui, 2 Neil Clark, 1 Ben Moon.
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Carl Rimmer, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 James Hanks, 20 Ben White, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Ignacio Mieres, 23 Nic Sestaret.
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Isa Nacewa, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Leo Cullen, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Heinke Van der Merwe, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Rhys Ruddock, 20 Shane Jennings, 21 Issac Boss, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Fergus McFadden
Date: Saturday, 19 January
Venue: Sandy Park Stadium
Kick-off: 18:00 GMT
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Christophe Berdos (France), Eric Soulan (France)
Television match official: Bernard Dal Maso (France)
Comments
the_side_step says...
Probably the best 1 to 15 leinster can put out! i think they have enough to win this one and if they play with the intent they did last week they could get the four tries!! I don't think munster will get the bonus point against racing so they might not need it! My big worry would be a draw between leister and toulouse because that will be very tight!! If Toulon do us a favour first this could be a great day for the leinster boys!!
Posted 14:55 19th January 2013
melkdave says...
As others have said ,most probialy the strongest team fielded by Leinster all season,But i still feel they will fall short .They may win Saturday,but i just dont think they wil get the bonus point ,they need so badly..Exeter even though they cant progress,will really want to finish the campaign ,with a statement,for their fans ,espically at home.Expecting a very hard close game with Exeter just nicking it by 1-3 points.
Posted 12:04 19th January 2013
3in4 says...
Exeter got away with murder at the breakdown in the game at the RDS so it'll be interesting to see if Poite bothers to punish them for it today.
Posted 11:23 19th January 2013
Tvaddict says...
@ paddy91317
Well true about the ref, with the breakdown hopefully being refereed properly then that's 50% of Leinster's game gone. Plus Exeter almost beat Leinster in Leinster in their first ever Heineken Cup game, so at home they should be able to do this.
Posted 11:22 19th January 2013
J_HDK says...
has nobody looked out the window? Win for Leinster... but 4 (or even 5 as may be necessary) tries... hmmm. :S
As regards the french officials, it all balances out as Montpellier V RCT has all irish officals
Posted 11:02 19th January 2013
paddy91317 says...
@rosbif
I see your piont... cant argue with you
Posted 08:47 19th January 2013
Rosbif says...
@paddy91317, to answer on behalf of TVaddict, have you seen how many Frenchmen in the ref quartet???
Posted 21:34 18th January 2013
Toulousain says...
if leinster get through to the qfs, with no further injuries to this team, i really wouldn't bet against them winning it again.
3rd in the rabo without having really broken sweat, so they will be looking at april and licking their lips. meanwhile, those apparently "mighty" french teams will be slugging twelve bells out of each other and will be on their knees come the spring....
so, my heart says "good luck leinster" because the hcup is not the same without you. but my head says "please let them be knocked-out" because my nerves will be too frayed otherwise.
Posted 21:31 18th January 2013
paddy91317 says...
Tvaddict please explain how exeter should win this one
Posted 18:18 18th January 2013
TVaddict says...
Exeter should win this one, as they should have won the last time they met. However, Exeter seem to have a problem closing out games against big teams so I expect Leinster to win ugly with no bonus point.
Posted 17:21 18th January 2013
rugbygent says...
Exciting team with reddan to keep us moving quickly while O'Brien will make the hard yards which ruddock couldnt seem to do against the scarlets!!
Can only see a big Leinster win
ALLEZ LES BLEUS
Posted 15:46 18th January 2013
GCP_jones says...
Looking forward to finally seeing the 1st team running onto the field, hopefully the weather won't conspire against us and the match will go ahead( I have my seat booked down the local).
COME ON DA BLUES
Posted 14:28 18th January 2013
leinster_goy says...
this has to be the strongest 23 we've fielded all season O_O
my natural optimism and faith in BOD tells me that we can do this. clermont scored 6 tries in sandy park so i don't see why we can't. any motivation exeter might have will be far outweighed by ours. the first 10 minutes are key - start with the same pace and intensity as last week, get Church, Seany and Heaslo carrying, bash the forwards into submission, let Sexto work his magic, grab an early try, shellshock them. then the bonus will come
of course, we might well do all the hard work, get the 5 points and still be out of the Heino by the time sunday evening rolls round. we were unlucky to get such a formidable clermont team in the same pool but ultimately we only have ourselves to blame for the lacklustre first two rounds and not getting the win in stade marcel michelin when it was there on a plate for us. even so...
ALLEZ LES BLEUS
Posted 13:21 18th January 2013