LEINSTER OUT-HALF HARRY Byrne is expected to be ruled fit to make his return against Zebre in the Guinness Pro14 on Friday (17:45, eir Sport), while the eastern province will further assess the knocks sustained by Ciarán Frawley and Seán Cronin over the weekend and Josh van der Flier will follow return-to-play protocols in Ireland camp this week.

Byrne himself suffered a head injury against Glasgow yesterday week and missed the blues’ victory over 14-man Ulster in Belfast on Saturday. The 21-year-old has passed return-to-play protocols, however, and will be available for selection this weekend.

Frawley injured his shoulder in the warm-up prior to the Glasgow fixture and will be further examined this week. So too will Cronin who picked up a back injury that forced his removal from the matchday squad to face Ulster.

Vakh Abdaladze took a limited part in team training last week as he continues to recover from his own back injury and the tighthead will again increase his involvement this week but won’t be available for selection against Zebre.

And neither will international back row Caelan Doris, who continues to recover from a concussion suffered in Ireland camp prior to the Six Nations.

There are no further updates on long-term absentees Tommy O’Brien (ankle), Adam Byrne (quad), Dan Leavy (knee), Conor O’Brien (knee) and Max Deegan (knee).