Leicester’s Van Poortvliet relishing Gibson-Park reunion against Leinster

Leicester’s Jack van Poortvliet is relishing the chance to renew his rivalry with Jamison Gibson-Park. The scrum-halves will line up opposite each other again on Friday when the Tigers visit Dublin to face Leinster in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup.

Both started last month’s Six Nations encounter when Ireland secured their fourth grand slam by beating England. With the bulk of that side consisting of Leinster players Van Poortvliet knows Leicester’s challenge will not be dissimilar.

“He’s a world-class scrum-half who’s really dictated the speed and the quality with which Ireland have attacked over recent years,” Van Poortvliet said of the New Zealand-born Gibson-Park.

“He’s brilliant at keeping defences honest. He’ll get on the ball, he’ll always look down short sides … he’s a world-class athlete and he’s blessed to be behind a brilliant pack that gets them go-forward and speed of ball.”

The Tigers head coach, Richard Wigglesworth, makes four changes for the match at the Aviva Stadium: Mike Brown starts at full-back, with England’s Freddie Steward shifting to the wing. The South African Jasper Wiese comes in at No 8 after a bullocking try against Edinburgh last Friday.

Olly Cracknell drops to the bench for Wiese, while in the front row Joe Heyes replaces Dan Cole. Dan Kelly starts at inside centre, replacing Jimmy Gopperth, with Harry Potter selected at outside centre for the injured Guy Porter.

Leinster, for whom Johnny Sexton is absent because of a groin injury, make two changes from last week’s win against Ulster: the No 8 Caelan Doris has recovered from illness and comes in for Josh van der Flier, who rolled an ankle. The centre Garry Ringrose, who suffered a brain injury during the Six Nations, starts in