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Leinster receive injury boost with 2 Ireland stars fit for Northampton
By Josh Raisey
Leinster and Ireland duo Garry Ringrose and Jimmy O'Brien will return to full training this week and will be in contention to face Northampton Saints in the Investec Champions Cup semi-final at Croke Park on Saturday.
Ringrose has been out since the final round of the Guinness Six Nations, where he picked up a shoulder injury against Scotland. O'Brien, meanwhile, missed the entire Championship with a neck injury sustained in January. Leinster confirmed in an injury update on Monday the duo's availability.
They will provide options for Leo Cullen and Jacques Nienaber after a tough two weeks in South Africa, where Leinster lost to the Lions 44-12 and the Stormers 42-12.
The squad arrived back in Ireland on Monday morning, and will begin their preparations for the semi-final, where a vastly different team will take the field in Dublin to the ones that played in South Africa.
Ireland fullback Hugo Keenan's availability for the match will be assessed later in the week after stepping up his training programme following an ongoing hip injury. The 27-year-old was a late withdrawal from the quarter-final victory over reigning Champions Cup winners La Rochelle earlier in April.
James Ryan (arm), Tommy O’Brien (hamstring) and Alex Soroka (foot), meanwhile, remain out of contention to play.
After defeating La Rochelle, Leinster are gunning for a fifth European crown, which would level Toulouse's record. The French giants are one of the teams that could potentially prevent them from realising that dream though, as they take on Harlequins on Sunday at the Stadium de Toulouse.
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Latest Comments
Italians defended well. Luckily the scrums went well for the ABs.
Go to commentsYou were 'valuing' the players by you saying "they are not greats" though, I was pointing out another reason why they are greats, inside the team I mean (which is more important to selections on the pitch stuff).
Someone like TJ would be bitterly disappointed he didn't play on this end of year tour. He is still good enough to come on in that France game and ensure the team get the victory (with regards to how well Ratima had been playing). At the very least this is a 'sorry you didn't get that chance' offering, he's not here to get token farewell games, he will be playing to try and prove that he should have been on the pitch last week.
The other decision to play your best over the future is really personal though so can agree with your reasoning. Just sharing a slightly different perspective. I'll have to check the ratings and see how they went.
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