Leinster’s 22-13 win over Bayonne in the Stade Jean Dauger came at a cost, not just for them but also potentially for Ireland given the Six Nations opener in Paris is 19 days away, as four players were forced off injured.
Robbie Henshaw looked the most serious, leaving the stadium with a brace around his right knee, while Tommy O’Brien, Tadhg Furlong and Jimmy O’Brien also left the field prematurely through injury.
Tommy O’Brien appeared to strain his calf when chasing the second-half kick-off.
The early departures required a reshuffle in the Leinster backs, with Luke McGrath coming on to play on the wing with Sam Prendergast brought in at fullback.
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“It’s early days there,” Leinster head coach Leo Cullen said after the win. “There’s a good few (injury concerns), even Jimmy’s hobbled off there as well.”
On Furlong, Cullen added: “He just felt [his calf] was tightening up early. Then it was like, ‘OK, he’s feeling this’, let’s make the call here now. If he’s struggling to run, we’ll just make the call there.
Jack Conan had been due to feature on the bench but was withdrawn on Friday due to a neck issue. However, the 33-year-old should be available for next Saturday’s derby away to Connacht at Dexcom Stadium. “[Conan] should be okay to go next week instead. Not serious, but it was just one of those calls,” said Cullen.
There was also the encouraging sight of Ciarán Frawley taking a full part in the warm-up as a non-plying reserve after limping off with a foot injury against La Rochelle last week.
“He was here, so yeah, Ciaran’s okay,” Cullen confirmed. “He didn’t train until Thursday in the end, so we weren’t quite sure what his status would be at the start of the week, but he trained on Thursday, so he’s back in the mix, should be good to go.”
“It’s not pleasing getting guys injured,” said Cullen, but added he’s satisfied with how Leinster are “dealing with lots of these different disruptions”.
“It’s not ideal, but it’s been a full-on block. Every team has their injury woes at the minute, but there’s a few probably soft tissue injuries that we picked up there.
“What’s the reason for that? I don’t know. Is it conditions? Change of surface? I don’t know. It can be always hard to pinpoint that. We’ll get everybody assessed and have a clear picture for Monday.”
