Leinster issue an injury update on the absent Lowe, Henshaw

Recent Ireland Grand Slam winners James Lowe and Robbie Henshaw won’t be back in time with Leinster to face Munster in this Saturday’s URC semi-final in Dublin. The hope would have been for the two backs to make it into the mix this week to prove their fitness with a match to spare before the upcoming Heineken Champions Cup final at Aviva Stadium versus La Rochelle on May 20.

Neither player has played for the Irish province since the early April Champions Cup quarter-final success over Leicester and the latest bulletin from Leinster still has them listed in the 'further assessment required' category.

A statement read: “Robbie Henshaw is expected to step up his rehabilitation from a minor quad issue this week and will be further assessed as the week progresses. James Lowe is expected to step up his rehabilitation from a calf injury and will be further assessed as the week progresses.”

There was no certainty either regarding the injury that resulted in sub prop Cian Healy limping out of last weekend’s URC quarter-final win over the Sharks.

“Cian Healy picked up an ankle injury against Cell C Sharks and will be further assessed as the week progresses,” continued the statement, which also pencilled in Scott Penney for a further review later this week after he entered the graduated return to play protocol.

In more encouraging news, Leinster, who confirmed that nearly 20,000 tickets have already been sold for their league semi-final against Irish rivals Munter, said this about Joe McCarthy and Ronan Kelleher: “Joe McCarthy came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his recovery from an ankle injury.

“Ronan Kelleher was involved in the wider match day squad at the weekend and will be available to train fully this week after his recovery from a shoulder injury.”

There were no further updates on Vakhtang Abdaladze (neck), Ed Byrne (tricep), Rhys Ruddock (hamstring), Johnny Sexton (groin), Jamie Osborne (knee) and Martin Moloney (knee).