WOLVERINE-LIKE POWERS of recovery could see Brian O’Driscoll return to action sooner than first thought.
Two months after undergoing surgery on his shoulder, ot have reported that the Irish centre is progressing quicker than expected.
He could yet play in the Heineken Cup’s knock-out stages if Leinster qualify and he gets back in the saddle in time for the quarter-finals on the weekend of April 7.
The province however, were understandably slow to set a date and put pressure on their most valuable asset.
There’s no time-frame set for when he (O’Driscoll) will return,” Richie Murphy, Leinster’s skills and kicking coach, told TV3 News today.
“But everybody has been happy - his recovery rate in the gym has been going really well.”
Before today, a return date had been mooted for May and so only an appearance in the Twickenham final would have given O’Driscoll (who turns 33 later this month) a chance to extend his record of 30 tries in the European competition.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Sexton is expected to return much earlier. The fly-half was taken off early during Saturday’s win over Cardiff Blues, but Sexton described his substitution as purely ‘precautionary’ and revealed that, though cramped, he didn’t even want to leave the field.
The two-time Heineken Cup winner fully expects to take the reigns again this Sunday, when Leinster visit Glasgow looking to seal top spot in Pool 3.
Suprise suprise, Ive been waiting for this story for a few weeks now. There is no keeping that man down. Touch wood.