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Mixed news on the injury front for Leinster as squad reassemble for trip to Montpellier
By Ciarán Kennedy
Leinster expect to have captain Johnny Sexton available for selection for their Heineken Champions Cup trip to Montpellier this weekend. The out-half was forced off with a dead leg as Ireland finished their Autumn Nations Cup campaign with a 31-16 home win over Scotland on Saturday, raising concerns he would miss the province's opening game of the 2020/21 European season.
However Leinster have today confirmed that they expect Sexton to be ready to go for Saturday's clash at the Altrad Stadium.
And there was further good news for Leinster head coach Leo Cullen with flanker Will Connors passed fit to play having missed Ireland's win over Scotland as he completed Return to Play Protocols.
Jimmy O'Brien is also available for selection having recovered from a back problem.
However a number of key players are facing a race against time to be passed fit. Garry Ringrose, who broke his jaw during Ireland's Six Nations win over Italy, will be further assessed this week, as will wing James Lowe (groin).
James Ryan has entered the Gratuated Return to Play Protocols after being removed for a HIA during the Scotland game, and will be monitored throughout the week.
Prop Ed Byrne has been ruled out with a calf injury, while there was no further update provided on Tadhg Furlong (calf), Tommy O’Brien (ankle), Jack Conan (neck), Max Deegan (knee), Jordan Larmour (shoulder), Vakh Abdaladze (back) or Adam Byrne (hamstring).
Meanwhile, Leinster have confirmed that tighthead prop Ciarán Parker has returned to Jersey Reds after completing a short-term loan deal.
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Latest Comments
If Pollock is in the squad, who gets left out?
"I think the Eddie Jones style development player approach is whats called for"
(i) Why?
(ii) The churn of players under Eddie Jones was generally considered to be quite a bad thing. Do you want Guy Pepper, Ted Hill, Ben Curry, etc. to give up and go to France like Marchant did?
(iii) England already have a really young squad, and especially a young back row. If they do badly in the six nations Borthwick will probably lose his job, so shouldn't they prioritise winning in the short term and developing the players already in the squad, rather than bringing in newer, younger, guys?
(iv) England have a development tour in June. If you really want Pollock to be in the squad prior to graduating the u20s, why not wait until the summer?
Go to commentsWhen England's defence was able to get into shape it could be dominant though (especially in the game against NZ). Is the number of tackles really the main issue?
I get that making loads of tackles is tiring, but so is building multi-phase attacks. I'm just worried England would get tired out from attacking, then struggle to get set when they're subjected to counter attacks.
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