Ronan Kelleher news plunges Ireland into low-key injury crisis

Ireland's preparations for the Autumn Nations Series have taken a hit as hooker Ronan Kelleher has been ruled out after undergoing an ankle procedure.

It's a significant blow for Ireland, not least given starting hooker and fellow Leinsterman Dan Sheehan is himself sidelined for months with injury and faces his own race against time to make the Guinness Six Nations.

Ulster and Ireland hooker Rob Herring is also yet to feature for the Belfast-based province this season and is in the process of recovering from a calf issue, his last major outing coming against South Africa over the summer.

Kelleher sustained the injury during a recent match against Benetton in Treviso. He is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks, which means he will miss Ireland's four upcoming November Test matches.

“Ronan had a procedure on his ankle so he’ll be gone for, I don’t know, four to six weeks," Leinster head coach Leo Cullen told reporters this weekend. "The exact timeline… I’m not exactly sure on that, he only just got it done during the week.

In contrast, Robbie Henshaw is set to return to full training and could feature for Leinster against Connacht next weekend. Cullen expressed optimism regarding Henshaw’s recovery.

“Robbie (Henshaw) is a little bit slower coming back in but we’re just managing guys with the niggles over the course of pre-season.

“So he will hopefully be introduced to full training next week and we will see as the week goes on. He is not a million miles away, he is up and running and everything.

Leinster were without Joe McCarthy, Jimmy O’Brien and Jordan Larmour against Munster at Croke Park.

“Jordan was gone from the previous week. He was due to feature, with a 5/3 split on the bench, but he picked up a niggle in training and hopefully he is not too bad.”