Dave Kearney Ruled Out For ‘Four To Five Months’

The majority of the Leinster squad had yesterday off, however some players did report for training today ahead of preparations for Friday’s British & Irish Cup final against Leeds Carnegie at Donnybrook (kick-off 7pm).

Girvan Dempsey has reported no injuries as his Leinster ‘A’ squad look to defend the title they won for the first time last year.

However, the news from the province’s senior panel was not as positive as Matt O’Connor confirmed that Dave Kearney will be out of action for the next four or five months as a result of an anterior cruciate ligament tear.

The injury occurred during the second half of the RaboDirect PRO12 semi-final win over Ulster last Saturday in the RDS. The Ireland winger will have surgery in the next week or so.

There was better news for Brian O’Driscoll and Fergus McFadden who were replaced during the same game but they are due back training on Thursday, while Mike McCarthy continues to make good progress and has trained this week.

Eoin Reddan, who won his 100th Leinster cap against Ulster, suffered no ill-effects from the game having returned from a shoulder injury.

In addition, fellow scrum half Isaac Boss has been working on his own recovery from a slight calf injury that kept him out of the semi-final clash.