LEINSTER FULLBACK HUGO Keenan will be sidelined until the New Year after undergoing hip surgery.

Keenan had the procedure after starring for the British and Irish Lions in their series success over Australia, meaning he will miss all of Ireland’s autumn internationals and most of the first half of the season with Leinster.

Leinster second row Joe McCarthy has also undergone surgery in the wake of the Lions tour, having an operation on the foot injury that kept him out of the second and third Tests in Australia.

McCarthy could be out of action until November.

“Hugo had surgery post the Lions tour on his hip,” said Leinster boss Leo Cullen today after his side’s open training session at Greystones RFC.

“He probably won’t feature until the New Year. Exactly what point, I’m not sure yet. 

“Joe has an issue with his foot. He had an issue obviously with the Lions, but he’s made it worse anyway. So he’s had a bit of a setback. Whether he’s out until November, but he is not going to feature for us anyway in that first block [of URC matches].

“It’s early days, and I don’t know is the honest answer.”

Cullen also confirmed that Leinster and Ireland captain Caelan Doris, who missed the Lions tour due to a shoulder injury, hopes to make his comeback “in and around November.”

Despite those absentees, the Leinster group that trained in Greystones today was laden with Lions players who returned for pre-season last week, including centre Garry Ringrose and second row James Ryan.

Ryan suffered a head injury during the third Lions Test and was stretchered off, while Ringrose was ruled out of all three Tests with concussion, missing the second clash with the Wallabies after essentially sidelining himself.

Cullen praised Ringrose for his “remarkable” decision in Australia and said both Ringrose and Ryan “have a plan in place” for their full returns to action.

Given that the Lions contingent have only recently returned to action, Cullen said it would be Round 3 or Round 4 of the URC before they are available to Leinster. The clash against Munster at Croke Park on 18 October is a likely target for many of them.

Cullen said that Jamie Osborne and Thomas Clarkson, who were late call-ups to the Lions squad and were lightly raced in terms of game time, are in a different category and they’re likely to be back in action sooner.

With Keenan and McCarthy having already gone under the knife, some Leinster fans may be worried that the big guns who were Lions frontliners under Andy Farrell could feel the effects of that tour over the course of this season.

However, Cullen doesn’t believe that the Lions tour will have a knock-on effect on Leinster.

“We just have to prove that wrong,” he said. “That’s all we can do. We understand it’s a very challenging start to the season, because there are so many moving parts.”

Leinster had 10 players on Ireland’s summer tour of Georgia and Portugal, with that group available to go on the province’s season-opening tour of South Africa in the URC.

Cullen’s men fly out to South Africa this Saturday ahead of their opening clash against the Stormers in Cape Town on Friday 26 September and a visit to the Bulls in Pretoria the following weekend. 

It’s a notable change for Leinster, who have had to travel to South Africa just after the Six Nations in recent seasons, meaning they were without their Ireland internationals.

Cullen also confirmed that Lansdowne loosehead prop Jerry Cahir has signed a three-month contract with the province, while Ireland 7s flyer Josh Kenny and Old Belvedere back row Josh Ericson have been training with Leinster during pre-season.