QUIN FOR A ROUGH RIDE

Cullen warns over never-say-die English side

- DEREK FOLEY

THE original Harlequin dates back to the Italian commedia dell'arte of 1500-1700.

He was an agile trickster in a chequered costume not averse to some pilfering here and there.

Leinster boss Leo Cullen has warned his players that, while this modern lot might be a whopping 16/1 against winning at Croke Park this afternoon, they can also be agile and have some notable pilfering form themselves.

Not least a light-fingered 42-41 quarter-final win at Bordeaux in this competition last season.

And so Cullen fields his strongest starting team of the season containing 13 Ireland Six Nations internationals including Dan Sheehan at Champions Cup level for the first time this term plus RG Snyman and Rabah Slimani.

The Blues boss said: "We're hugely excited about the game, watching Quins the last couple of weeks they had a big win over Sarries at Tottenham Stadium, coming from 12 points down at half-time to win comfortably.