A cursory glance at the Irish press this week would have you believing a full-blow crisis has broken out at Leinster. They were accused by one Ireland great - Tony Ward - of being “arrogant” and out of touch with their support, while Bernard Jackman, another former Leinster player turned media commentator, said he had lost all confidence in their ability to win knockout games. It didn’t seem much of a problem eight weeks ago when Leinster eviscerated Glasgow Warriors in the quarter-finals of the Investec Champions Cup. The score that night was 52-0 and the victory came hot on the heels of a 62-0 annihilation of Harlequins in the round of 16 the previous week. Things then began to get sticky for Leo Cullen’s side. A URC defeat in Wales by the Scarlets was surprising but no real cause for concern given Leinster had rested players. But the home loss a week later to Northampton Saints in the Champions Cup semi-finals prompted a bout of soul-searching. It was bad enough that they had lost the last three European Cup finals, but this time they wouldn’t even be making it that far. It meant they ‘only’ had the URC left to play for but even their progress there has been traduced. The win over Scarlets in last weekend’s quarter-final was a lacklustre affair, with stand-off Sam Prendergast again struggling to find his early-season form. Watched by only 12,879 in the Aviva, Leinster prevailed 33-21 to set up Saturday’s semi-final against Glasgow. The Warriors are returning for the third instalment of their Dublin trilogy and while they can take heart from the narrow 13-5 defeat in part two, they are still chasing a victory over the hosts. Unsurprisingly, Franco Smith is not reading too much into Leinster’s perceived problems. “We absolutely ignore all of that,” said the Glasgow coach. “It's got nothing to do with what's going to happen between the teams. I realise there’s a lot of talk. If they read it, it's up to them. “We expect a team that gave us 50 points earlier this season. So I'm not going to be lured into any trap regarding that. I know that they would like to perform well, so we expect everything from them.” Leinster are desperate to loosen Glasgow’s grip on the URC trophy. They have not lifted silverware since 2021 when they won the old Pro14 championship and have lost at the semi-final stage of the URC in each of the last three seasons. Smith, meanwhile, is bidding to steer the Warriors into a final for the third year in a row, having lost the 2023 Challenge Cup showpiece to Toulon at the Aviva in his first season then clinching the URC so impressively with a win over the Bulls in South Africa 12 months ago. They have won eight out of 12 knockout games under Smith and in their bid to make it 13 they have pivoted to a new midfield blend. The defending champions have brought Adam Hastings into their Aviva starting XV. Hastings, who came off the bench in the 36-18 win over the Stormers in the quarter-finals, starts at 10, Tom Jordan moves from stand-off to inside centre and Sione Tuipulotu switches from 12 to 13. The unlucky Stafford McDowall drops to the bench and there is still no place in the squad for Huw Jones who is nursing an Achilles tendon injury. Jordan was outstanding at 10 against the Stormers last week and it is slightly surprising to see him pushed out to 12 but Smith denied that the selection of three interchangeable playmakers was designed to confuse Leinster. “If it works out that way, it will be great, but that was not the main objective, to be honest,” he said. “We've just got good rugby players in that role, and it's good to have them out on the pitch. “Obviously, the game is all about strategy and tactics as well, so, without giving too much away, I think it's an opportunity for Adam to add value. He's got a different skill set to Tom. “It just balances a different approach when we play away from home. Maybe this week the challenge that Leinster offers is different. For us, it keeps refreshing it and bringing some energy and that's going to be even more important.” Leinster have injury problems in that area, and elsewhere. Centres Garry Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw are both missing and they are joined in the sickbay by Lions duo Josh van der Flier and Hugo Keenan. Flanker van der Flier hurt his hamstring against Scarlets while full-back Keenan has a slight calf issue and they are replaced, respectively, by Scott Penny and Jimmy O’Brien. Tadhg Furlong and Caelan Doris are also missing from the 52-0 game but Smith believes such high-profile absenteeism will not affect Leinster unduly. “I think they've got good enough quality,” he said. “You've got Jordie Barrett [at inside centre]. Jamie Osborne [at 13] has played and is tried and tested. I don't think they've got a lack of depth in that part of the game. “They've shown that the whole season by beating everybody else with a second group of players. I don't think they are weakened at all.” The only other personnel change made by Glasgow to their starting side is in the front row where Fin Richardson comes in at tighthead prop. “He played really well the last time against Leinster and scrummed well against Andrew Porter so he merited the opportunity,” said Smith. Richardson replaces Murphy Walker who picked up a slight injury early in the week which hampered his ability to train. Sam Talakai is back-up tighthead and he is joined on the bench by loosehead Rory Sutherland who returns after a long spell out. Glasgow will need all his experience in Dublin. While Leinster’s cloak of invincibility may have slipped, they remain huge odds-on favourites to reach their first URC final and the visitors will have to produce an away performance akin to last season’s final in Pretoria if they are to prevail. Leinster v Glasgow Warriors (URC semi-final, Saturday, 2.45pm, Aviva Stadium, Dublin) Leinster: Jimmy O’Brien; Tommy O’Brien, Jamie Osborne, Jordie Barrett, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Thomas Clarkson, Joe McCarthy, James Ryan, Ryan Baird, Scott Penny, Jack Conan (capt). Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Jack Boyle, Rabah Slimani, RG Snyman, Max Deegan, Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne, Ciarán Frawley. Glasgow Warriors: Josh McKay; Kyle Steyn (capt), Sione Tuipulotu, Tom Jordan, Kyle Rowe; Adam Hastings, George Horne; Jamie Bhatti, Gregor Hiddleston, Fin Richardson, Alex Samuel, Scott Cummings, Euan Ferrie, Rory Darge, Henco Venter. Replacements: Johnny Matthews, Rory Sutherland, Sam Talakai, Max Williamson, Jack Mann, Macenzzie Duncan, Stafford McDowall, Jamie Dobie. Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR).