LEINSTER HAVE BEEN boosted by the return of James Tracy and Josh van der Flier from international duty for Friday’s Guinness Pro12 clash with Edinburgh.
The pair were second-half replacements during Ireland’s nine-try demolition of Italy on Saturday and have been released by Joe Schmidt this week as the Six Nations enters its first break weekend.
Both Tracy and van der Flier trained with the Leinster squad in UCD this afternoon and forwards coach John Fogarty says he expects both to be available for the visit of the Scottish side to the RDS.
Tracy made his Six Nations debut in the win at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome after he was drafted in at late notice following the withdrawal of Rory Best through illness.
Van der Flier, meanwhile, has featured off the bench in both of Ireland’s outings but Schmidt is clearly keen for the flanker to get minutes under his belt having fallen behind Sean O’Brien in the pecking order.
His availability is a major fillip for Leo Cullen as the eastern province head into another big set of fixtures with the race for the Pro12 playoffs intensifying.
Cullen may, however, have to do without captain Isa Nacewa again this weekend as he continues to recover from a knee injury.
Nacewa missed yesterday’s win over Treviso and sat out today’s session after twisting his knee in training last week.
“We’re being a little bit conservative with him considering his age profile so we’ll see how he is on Wednesday as that’s our big training day this week,” Fogarty says.
Dave Kearney, Mike Ross and Joey Carbery all came through their respective returns unscathed while Fergus McFadden will continue his comeback from injury this week and should be available for selection.
Rhys Ruddock is also expected to step-up his recovery from a quad injury when he returns to full training next week but there is no update on long-term absentees Tom Daly, Sean Cronin and Jordi Murphy.
On the return of Tracy and van der Flier, Fogarty added: “It’s good to get those guys back. JT did a great job [in Rome], he was kind of brought in last minute and came off the bench and did really well.
“Again these lads add to the competition that’s here and the group we have is a tight group when you lose that many players, it’s a nice tight group and they’re training hard. These guys add to it and that competition is a good thing.”
Leinster head into what Fogarty describes as a ‘crucial’ period for the club in third place in the Pro12 but with the top two — Munster and Ospreys — facing each other at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday, Cullen’s men will have the chance to cut the gap.
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