Brian O’Driscoll, despite being named on the team sheet, is still doubtful for Leinster’s Friday night European Pool 6 clash with Newport at Donnybrook.
While not injured, the Lions star received some heavy bruising to his knee and finger during Ireland's famous win over England last Saturday, the soreness of which could hinder his ability to play.
Coach Matt Williams is giving O’Driscoll until the warm-up on Friday night to see if his star centre is able to play.
"O’Driscoll hasn’t trained all week and isn’t likely to. He’s just got a lot of sore bruising which could stop him catching or kicking, but luckily we’ve got Adam Magro to fill in if needs be. He’s an international centre and has done well for us in the past," said Williams.
Otherwise, Williams had a full squad to chose from as Leinster aim to make it 10 wins out of 10 for the season and continue their unbeaten run at Donnybrook which would stretch to 16 with either a draw or victory against Newport.
The pressure is on Leinster somewhat as the Donnybrook faithful will expect nothing less than a victory against Newport.
Although the Welsh side don’t boast too many household names, Williams believes that Newport are the best side Leinster have played and Friday’s encounter will offer his team their toughest test this season.
Another effect of the postponed Six Nations games due to the foot-and-mouth crisis is that Leinster have not played a match for three weeks. They had a ‘hit-out’ against Ulster on Friday last which gave them their first ‘full contact’ workout for some time.
LEINSTER:Girvan Dempsey; Denis Hickey, Brian O'Driscoll, Shane Horgan, Gordan D'Arcy; Nathan Spooner, Brian O'Meara; Reg Corrigan (captain), Shane Byrne, Emmet Byrne; Leo Cullen, Malcom O'Kelly; Eric Miller, Keith Gleeson, Victor Costello.
Replacements:Peter Coyle, Gavin Hickey, Bob Casey, Trevor Brennan, Ben Willis, Andy Dunne, Adam Magro.