SEAN O’BRIEN HAS been named in the Leinster ‘A’ side to play Richmond this weekend in the British & Irish Cup.
The Ireland flanker will start against the English Championship’s bottom club at the Athletic Ground in West London tomorrow [3.00pm], with Jack Conan also returning from injury to be selected in the back row.
The game will be O’Brien’s first in eight months. The Carlow native hasn’t played since he was replaced after picking up a hamstring injury in the 19th minute of Ireland’s Six Nations defeat to France in Paris on 13 February.
As well as being a boost to Leinster head coach Leo Cullen, whose side begin their European Champions Cup campaign against Castres tomorrow, O’Brien’s return will be good news for Ireland boss Joe Schmidt ahead of a November series that includes two Tests against the All Blacks, as well as clashes with Australia and Canada.
Leinster ‘A’ (v Richmond):
15. Adam Byrne
14. Hugo Keenan
13. Jack Kelly
12. Jimmy O’Brien
11. Barry Daly
10. Ross Byrne
9. Nick McCarthy
1. Peter Dooley
2. Bryan Byrne
3. Jeremy Loughman
4. Hayden Triggs
5. James Ryan
6. Peadar Timmins (captain)
7. Sean O’Brien
8. Jack Conan
Replacements:
16. Sean McNulty
17. Oisin Heffernan
18. David O’Connor
19. Max Deegan
20. Will Connors
21. Charlie Rock
22. Jordan Larmour
