Luke Fitzgerald has been ruled out for the remainder of the season after Leinster confirmed that he had ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during the first half of Ireland’s Six Nations defeat to Italy in Rome on Saturday.
Fitzgerald only played 12 minutes of the game at the Stadio Olimpico as a first-half replacement for Keith Earls, who went off in the 25th minute with an injured shoulder.
The 25-year-old will now require surgery once the swelling settles down and will not return before the season ends.
Fitzgerald has suffered a terrible run of serious injuries in recent years and his predicament is not helped by the fact that he is out of contract after this season.
Leinster expect Ireland centre Gordon D’Arcy to return either this weekend or next after the foot injury he picked up against England
Joe Schmidt’s side return to RaboDirect Pro 12 action at home to the Glasgow warriors at the RDS on Saturday night and the coach will be able to call on the services of the experienced trio of Kevin McLaughlin, Isa Nacewa and Heinke van der Merwe after they missed the four victories over the Six Nations period.
Secondrow Quinn Roux successfully came through last week's ‘A’ interprovincial friendly against Munster in Limerick after missing almost four months with a shoulder injury.
