LEINSTER DUO LUKE McGrath and John McKee have emerged as major injury doubts and will be assessed further in the wake of last weekend’s defeat to Glasgow Warriors.
The province issued an update this afternoon after McGrath and McKee were forced off with knee and hamstring injuries respectively.
Leinster face Hollywoodbets Sharks in their URC opener at the RDS on Saturday [KO 4.55pm, live on RTÉ2 and Premier Sports 1].
While McGrath and McKee are uncertainties, Cian Healy and Michael Milne are among those confirmed as unavailable for selection.
Healy missed Ireland’s World Cup tilt after picking up a calf injury in the warm-up win over Samoa, and a fresh shoulder injury sustained in Leinster training last week rules the 36-year-old prop out for “a number of weeks”.
Milne, meanwhile, is progressing through the final stages of his own rehabilitation, while there are no further updates on Ed Byrne (hamstring) and Alex Soroka (foot).
Martin Moloney is available for selection once again, having returned to training after recovering from a long-term knee injury.
Could be another difficult afternoon for Leinster on Saturday. The callow front row had a difficult night n Glasgow but it was the experienced players that were the real disappointments. McGrath , Jenkins, Ngatai, Laramour Deegan & Penny were all poor. There was no cohesion at all. Have Leinster been hurt by Lancaster going, goodman missing most of preseason and Nienabar slate arrival? They looked a bit lost on Saturday. No need for panic given the talent to come back but a tricky start.
@Kevin: better to have tough games than winning non stop few loses will do them good after watching the world cup nothing wrong with loesing
@Sèan: nothing wrong with loosing at all. I agree a few loses could be good for them in the long run but the manner of the loss on Saturday was worrisome. They were like a hour of lads thrown together on the morning of the match And not lads who’d had 2 months of pre season training together.
@Kevin: Nah, they’re just copying the Munster model from last year ;)
I was very impressed with The Sharks last Saturday evening. Far better organised than last season and also discipline looked better. They are all huge men
Personally, and I know it is anathema to some, I feel the problem is Leo (and I ain’t talking about the mascot). He should cut his losses before he completely destroys his own reputation. There has been something amiss at LRFC for the last 5 years, but the fans are unable to see the elephant in the room.
@Darragh Tormey: they have been excellent the last 5 years. Are you a Leinster fan?
Whats up with site is it down ???