Brian O'Driscoll is set to make his Leinster return against Ulster in the
Celtic League at Donnybrook on Friday week.
While his fellow 2001 Lion, Malcolm O'Kelly, makes his return this week, Leinster's management are well aware that O'Driscoll was still playing Down Under a month after O'Kelly's last Lions outing.
It remains to be seen whether O'Driscoll's return will be from the bench or in the starting 15, but, his fitness and condition are not a concern for coach Matt Williams.
"He's in excellent condition," the coach said of his centre. "He's put on about four or five kilos in the upper body area and his body fat is lower than when he left. Both O'Driscoll and O'Kelly came back superbly conditioned. They also came back with a good work ethic from the training they received on the tour," he added.
Unlike the English Lions, neither O'Driscoll nor O'Kelly complained about the training regime on the tour. Williams put this down to the fact that the England players train less due to the amount of games they have to play in their season.
Leinster welcomed back one of 1995's Lions in the shape of Eric Miller this week. His teammate on that tour to South Africa, Paul Wallace is hoped to make his return against Ulster, or as a spokesman put it be "there or there abouts". Wallace broke a leg while playing for Saracens against Ulster in last season's European Cup and Leinster don't want to rush his return.
There was more good news for Matt Williams this week with the news that prop Emmet Byrne could make his return in a fortnight. Byrne injured his shoulder while playing against France last February.
- Meanwhile, Leinster will play all but one of their European Cup pool home games at Lansdowne road this year.
Press Officer, Tom McCormack said that demand was so high for tickets last year for games at Donnybrook that it was decided for safety reasons to switch the games headquarters for this season.
The Newcastle tie on Friday, 5th October, is to be played at Donnybrook due to the fact the Irish soccer team has a World Cup qualifier against Cyprus that week.
Lansdowne road will keep the seating arrangement for Leinster's matches and one end of the ground will hold a giant video screen for the games. It's not yet clear if this end will be cordoned to make the 35,000 seating capacity - which would be surely too much for European pool games - a bit smaller.
