Flanagan starts for Leinster

Mullingar's Mark Flanagan makes his first start for Leinster this season in tonight's Rabo Direct Pro12 clash aganist the Dragons.

The former Westmeath minor, who made a 23 minute cameo appearance in last week's victory over the Scarlets, will be hoping that tonight's match is the start of a new chapter in his Leinster career, which has been blighted by injury.

"I had a bulging disc in my back at the L5 level. The surgeon took 10pc of the disc out to relieve the pressure on the nerve running down my leg.

"My rehab would have been a lot of core work to take the pressure off my back. I ws ready to come back, but then aggravated the injury moving house. Lifting in the gym may have also damaged it when I was much younger," Flanagan told the Irish Independent.