A huge question mark has been placed over Malcolm O’Kelly’s availability for Leinster’s final Heineken Cup pool match on Sunday after the veteran lock was cited for an alleged stamp against Wasps. O’Kelly’s disciplinary hearing will be held in Dublin this Thursday.
O’Kelly was sin-binned following the incident involving the Wasps skipper Phil Vickery in the second-half at Twickenham but now also faces the possibility of a lengthy suspension.
Any ban would pose Leinster coach Michael Cheika with another selection headache as O’Kelly’s secondrow partner, captain Leo Cullen, is a major doubt with a shoulder injury.
Cheika already has concerns over his entire first-choice frontrow with Stan Wright, Bernard Jackman and CJ van der Linde all casualties of the defeat in London.
Leinster, who remain top of Pool Two by virtue of their superior head-to-head record with Wasps, require a bonus point win against Edinburgh at the RDS to guarantee a place in the knockout stages. Failing that, they need to at least need to match Wasps result against Castres.
Cardiff wing Tom James will also go before a disciplinary committee on Thursday to learn whether he will be handed a ban for his red card against Gloucester. James was dismissed in the 27th minute for butting Gloucester hooker Olivier Azam right under the nose of Irish referee Alan Lewis.
