Leinster played down their frontrow problems after disappointing news emerged on prop Martin Moore, who injured his shoulder at the weekend in the Pro12 league game against Zebre and will be out for up to 12 weeks.
Forwards' coach Leo Cullen, however, admitted that Moore's spell on the sidelines is a big loss as Leinster face into their first European fixture this weekend against Wasps.
Moore, who has been capped for Ireland and has impressed the coaching staff in Leinster, lasted less than 20 minutes in Italy when his carry into contact resulted in the injury.
“The major thing is that Marty came off maybe after about 15 minutes. He got a bang on the shoulder and he’s with a specialist right now. He’ll probably be out for about 12 weeks,” said Leinster forwards coach Cullen.
There was better news on the rest of the team, none of whom have any serious injury concerns. That includes outhalf Ian Madigan, who suffered a late hit during the same match.
“Most of the bodies came through okay and we’ve a few more guys back in the mix that had the weekend end off. It’s tough on Marty. He’s been very good for us and he worked very, very hard pre-season to get himself in shape and yeah it’s going to be a big loss.,” added Cullen.
“He actually carried into a scrumhalf. I’m not too sure... whatever way he twisted his shoulder in the contact...he actually damaged his AC a few weeks ago but he’s now damaged his labrum as well, so it’s definitely a bit of a loss.
“Mads (Madigan) just got hit a little bit late off the ball in the lead up to Luke McGrath scoring his try. Listen... Mads is pretty tough and he should be fine.”
Meanwhile Ulster’s Andrew Trimble suffered a toe injury against Glasgow Warriors on Saturday evening. He was scanned today and will undergo further investigation tomorrow.
An update on his fitness will be issued later in the week. Scrum half David Shanahan tore his hamstring playing for the Ulster Ravens against Aberavon on Saturday afternoon. He will be out of rugby for four to six weeks.
Connacht Academy hooker Shane Delahunt sustained a high ankle sprain just before he was substituted in the second half of their victory over Treviso. His training will be modified early in the week before a decision will be made on his availability for the Challenge Cup game against La Rochelle at the Sportsground on Saturday.
It has also been confirmed by the medical team that Connacht’s highest capped player Michael Swift will be unavailable to play for at least three weeks following a lower leg ligament injury picked up in training last week.
In better news, hooker Jason Harris-Wright has been passed fit to play and potentially make his season debut this week following his recovery from shoulder reconstruction surgery back in May.
