Leo Cullen believes Joey Carbery has come back to Leinster a "more mature person", as the out-half prepares to mark his return to his home province this afternoon.

Carbery has been named among the replacements for this afternoon's Investec Champions Cup Pool 1 clash with Clermont Auvergne at Stade Marcel Michelin (3.15pm, live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1), more than eight years on from his last appearance in blue.

The out-half played 37 times for Leinster between 2016 and 2018 before joining Munster, where he endured an injury-hit six seasons, with the last two years spent at Bordeaux-Begles.

The 30-year-old's final months at Bordeaux were hampered by an ACL injury, with Carbery now set to mark his return to action off the bench this afternoon.

"Joey's been great since he came back in," Cullen said.

"He has been unlucky - we actually named him on the bench for the round two game [against Sharks] and he'd a minor tweak that week.

"He's been great since he came back, it's great for Ollie [Coffey] to have that experience outside him.

"We'll see how the game plays out, Joey gives us great versatility given he can slot in at No 15 as well if needed."

And Cullen (below) is keen to tap into Carbery's experiences playing with Bordeaux in the last two seasons, with the French side winning back-to-back Champions Cup titles in his time there.

"He's been inside the four walls of the champion team for the last two seasons. So, he's accumulated tons of very relevant experience for us, for himself first and foremost, that we can all lean into.

"With his time away, listen, he's a father now, and a much more mature person. He's seen a lot, been through a lot.

"He's been great so far. But we're just keen to get him out there and enjoy himself and play into the potential that he has.

"So that's our job now as coaches, try and help him along the way there, and we'll see how he goes. This is his first week back and let's see what that looks like."

Clermont, three-time finalists in this tournament, haven't contended for silverware in recent years, and have endured a tough start in this season's Top 14 championship with just two wins from their opening six games, losing their most two recent games against La Rochelle and Bordeaux.

Christophe Urios's side finished bottom of their Champions Cup pool last season, losing all four games without picking up a bonus-point.

But Cullen is taking little for granted, as he points out how the French side caused Leinster major problems when the sides met in Dublin in 2024.

"They're hugely physical. They place a huge emphasis on their lineout defence, because even when we played them the last time, we played them in the Aviva, and we only won like 50% of our lineouts, maybe even less.

"They cleaned us out that day, and it was a very tight game, if you remember, was it 15-7? So it was a tight, bloody game, a proper arm-wrestle. If you get into those arm-wrestle type games, they're a tough bloody team to play against.

"They're always usually physical and proud when they play at home. So, what does that mean? It means they're very good in the contact area. They'll whack things, they'll carry hard so you need to be up for that challenge.

"So, what do I expect? I would expect a strong response from them [after a defeat to Bordeaux], and they go back to their core strengths, core identity, which tends to usually happen when a team loses, particularly if they lose at home.

"I know from watching them over a long number of years how much it means to them when they do play at home.

"So it'll be a proper challenge for us. We're under no illusions whatsoever."

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