Major blow for Leinster and Ireland as Ryan ruled out for up to 12 weeks

Leinster have been dealt a major blow ahead of the return of the rugby season with the news that second row James Ryan has been ruled out of action for 10-12 weeks. The province have confirmed that Ryan has had a procedure on a shoulder injury sustained in training a couple of weeks ago, and will be unavailable for a number of key games.

Leinster play Munster at the Aviva Stadium on August 22 in the first of their back-to-back interprovincial derbies, with Leo Cullen's squad returning to the same venue to take on Ulster the following week.

Leinster are back in the Aviva for their Champions Cup quarter-final meeting with Saracens on September 19.

The severity of Ryan's injury will also concern Ireland head coach Andy Farrell ahead of the autumn Test schedule.

Ireland are due to complete their postponed Six Nations fixtures against Italy and France in October, before taking part in a new eight-team tournament - in place of the original autumn Test schedule - which will see the Six Nations teams joined by Fiji and Japan.

A 12-week recovery would see Ryan return from injury on the last week of October.

Leinster also confirmed that Adam Byrne will be sidelined for up to 12 weeks due to a hamstring injury.

In more positive news, James Lowe - who will become eligible to play for Ireland later this year - returned to training last week after completing his isolation period. Lowe recently returned to Dublin after heading back to his native New Zealand for personal reasons.

Dan Leavy is continuing to integrate gradually into training after a significant multi-ligament knee injury. Leinster shared an image of Leavy back on the training pitch last week as he continues his recovery from the horror injury sustained during the Champions Cup quarter-final win against Ulster in March 2019.

Meanwhile, Peter Dooley is rehabilitating a shoulder injury and could return to training in the next two weeks, while Vakh Abdaladze has suffered a recurrence of his back injury and is seeking further opinion before a course of rehabilitation is decided upon.