TO SAY THE past couple of months have been frustrating for Leinster and Ireland’s Jordan Larmour would be a proverbial understatement.

After missing out on the Irish match day squad for the opening three rounds of the Six Nations Championship, a hip injury sustained in Leinster’s United Rugby Championship triumph over Benetton in Treviso on 5 March has kept the 24-year-old sidelined for an extended period.

Although he is gradually regaining fitness, he won’t be back in time to face arch rivals Munster at Thomond Park in the URC on Saturday.

“I picked up a bit of a hip-flexor injury in that Treviso game so I’m not going to be available this week and we’re kind of taking it week by week. I just started back running there last week and then did a bit of sprinting yesterday so I’m probably just going to keep building on that,” Larmour remarked yesterday at the launch of the Leinster Rugby Summer Camps.

“Probably looking at a few more weeks on the sidelines before I am back playing. I feel a lot better. I don’t really have any pain through it, so it’s more about just getting rehab under my belt and getting back running.”

Of course, this isn’t the first time that Larmour has had to deal with setbacks in relation to injury or international selection. An issue with his shoulder ensured he was marked absent for the six games that Ireland played post-lockdown at the end of 2020 and while he bounced back to feature in all five rounds of last year’s Six Nations, he subsequently remained idle as Andy Farrell’s side recorded three consecutive wins during the Autumn Nations Series.

The emergence of his Leinster team-mates Hugo Keenan and James Lowe on the international scene – as well as Connacht’s Mack Hansen – in the past 18 months has intensified the competition for places within the Irish back-three. While admitting it hasn’t been easy in more recent times, the Dubliner won’t be letting it affect him in a negative way.

Larmour picks a hole in the the fearsome defensive line of Kaleb McCallister, Fiadh Bel Molloy, Holly O'Dell and James Mulrooney at the launch of Leinster's Summer Camps. Sam Barnes / SPORTSFILE Sam Barnes / SPORTSFILE / SPORTSFILE

“It can be tough at times: not getting selected, picking up a few injuries, having a few setbacks. It can be tough, but I think it is just important to keep a positive mindset. All I can really do is just show up every day and work as hard as I can. That’s what I try to focus on.

“Working hard, doing what I can to get back to being selected and keeping the body in good health so I’m not picking up injuries. It can be tough, it can take a hit in your confidence. It’s just important that your mindset is in a good spot and you’re working hard.

“Setting goals to get back to where you want to be and how you’re going to do that along the way, I think, is really important. I think just trying to stay positive and just keep working hard. That’s all you can do really.”

Missing out on facing Munster this weekend is particularly tough for Larmour, given he has enjoyed such a good record against the southern province since breaking into the Leinster first team. The St Mary’s College club man has played in this fixture nine times thus far in his career and has come away with seven wins.

Munster’s only two victories in this period came in a heated encounter at Thomond Park in December 2018 – a game that saw James Lowe red-carded – and in the Pro14 Rainbow Cup last April.

Larmour struggled to pinpoint a specific reason why they have had the upper hand over Munster on so many occasions, but had no problem identifying how that 2018 meeting down in Limerick managed to slip from their grasp.

“There’s probably not one thing I can put my finger on. Obviously we lost a game down there, we didn’t play our best. I think that game we got a red card and our set-piece starter plays probably let us down. They were coming hard off the line, messing up our breakdown, slowing us down. Then when we have beaten them, we’ve had a good set piece,” Larmour added.

“A game can just ebb and flow, there’s ups and downs in all types of games. A lot of it is to do with momentum as well. There’s not one thing I’d put my finger on why we’ve beaten them.

“Probably just going into it with good preparation and then it’s about showing up and playing well on the day. It’s a tough place to go. This week is going to have to be really switched on, go in with a good game plan. Then it’s about executing and accuracy with that game plan we come up with.”

This week on the Front Row – The42’s new rugby podcast in partnership with Guinness – panellist Eimear Considine makes a welcome return… and she’s brought her Ireland roommate, Hannah O’Connor, along too. They chat about broken noses, tanning routines, initiation songs and balancing the Women’s Six Nations with teaching, plus how one fan named her child after Ireland winger Beibhinn Parsons! Click here to subscribe or listen below:

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