Rugby: Rob Kearney and Gordon D’Arcy are likely to be available to Leinster coach Joe Schmidt for next Saturday’s Heineken Cup trip to take on the Scarlets in Llanelli.
International scrumhalf Isaac Boss could also be included in the squad after coming through the last 30 minutes of Leinster A’s victory over Leeds Carnegie in the British and Irish Cup following his recent arm injury.
Leinster trained today at UCD, with Fergus McFadden, Richardt Strauss and Heinke van der Merwe all sitting out the session after requiring stitches for head wounds following Saturday’s 9-6 victory over Exeter at the RDS. All three are expected to take a full part in training later in the week.
David Kearney and Rhys Ruddock are in contention to play for the A side in their B&I Cup trip to Pontypridd after stepping up their rehabilitation programmes. Academy fullback Darren Hudson damaged his shoulder in the closing stages of the Leeds game and is a doubt for this weekend.
Meanwhile, Munster had mixed news after their opening defeat to Racing Metro, with Ronan O’Gara expected to miss this Sunday’s home clash against Edinburgh at Thomond Park, while Paul O’Connell is expected to play a full part after coming through the first hour of the game in Paris.
O’Gara picked up a hamstring injury and after a scan today Munster announced that he is unlikely to line out against the Scottish side.
Donncha O’Callaghan is reported to be progressing well in his recovery from his hamstring strain he sustained in the Leinster game but will need to come through training this week before a decision can be made on his participation, and the same can be said for Niall Ronan (groin).
Further good news from the weekend matches is that Felix Jones took a full part in the British and Irish Cup victory over Plymouth Albion and could be in the mix for the Edinburgh game, as could Ian Nagle who also made a return to action in England on Saturday.
Two others who will come into Rob Penney’s consideration are Luke O’Dea and Johne Murphy, the latter travelled to Paris as back-up at the weekend while O’Dea has recovered from a bout of illness which forced him to miss out on any rugby.
The following injured players are continuing with their rehabilitation: James Coughlan (groin), Ivan Dineen (groin), Keith Earls (groin), Sean Scanlon (back).
