LEINSTER HEAD COACH Leo Cullen is confident Garry Ringrose can slot straight back into contention for international selection next week despite missing out on the chance to get minutes under his belt against Scarlets tomorrow.
Ringrose has this week returned to full training with Leinster as he enters the final stages of his comeback from an ankle injury which has kept him sidelined since the start of January, but wasn’t deemed fit enough to feature in tomorrow’s Pro14 clash at the RDS [KO 3.15pm Sky Sports].
The significance of the 23-year-old’s return has been heightened following Robbie Henshaw’s dislocated shoulder last week, with Joe Schmidt yesterday suggesting he could be in the mix for Wales even without a warm-up outing this weekend.
Speaking ahead of Leinster’s crucial Conference B game against Scarlets, Cullen provided a positive update on Ringrose’s progress despite the Ireland international’s omission from his teamsheet.
“Garry started [full] training at the end of the week,” Cullen said. ”He trained yesterday so it was a little bit too soon for him [for Scarlets] but he’s making good progress. He looked good training yesterday.
“We picked our team with the group a little bit earlier but he trained well yesterday and was running again today. We’ll see how he comes through that.
“It is difficult to go straight into a match [after an injury layoff] but Garry has been there before so it’s not like he hasn’t experienced that in the past. He’s a quality player and he’ll be well up for the challenge.”
Cullen was also asked about the fitness of Sean O’Brien, who hasn’t played since the Champions Cup victory over Exeter Chiefs at the Aviva Stadium in December as he continues to manage a hip problem.
“He returned to running this week so we’ll see how he settles down,” Cullen added. “He hasn’t been training with the group, he’s been running separately but he’s making good progress.”
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