LEINSTER WILL DEFINITELY be without Rob Kearney and Quinn Roux for this weekend’s RaboDirect Pro12 encounter with Munster.
The European champions already lengthy list of injuries was exacerbated in the early stages of their embarrassing 34-6 defeat at the hands of Connacht.
Gordon D’Arcy left the field after just 10 minutes with an injury to his rib cartilage and he remains a serious doubt for Saturday’s game at the Aviva Stadium.
Within 20 minutes, Roux and Kearney had followed the centre down the tunnel, the latter after a heavy landing on his right leg, which the province has today confirmed as a back injury.
“Quinn Roux will be out for a couple of weeks.” Said Joe Schmidt today, “he’s uncomfortable around the clavicle (collarbone) where he got hit quite hard early in the warm-up. We thought he was going to be OK, but then he couldn’t lift anyone in the line-out.”
About his star fullback, Schmidt said: “There’s nothing too serious there, but it is very uncomfortable so he won’t be available against Munster, but we’re hoping that will come right pretty quickly.”
Along with front line internationals, Brian O’Driscoll, Jonathan Sexton and Jamie Heaslip, Schmidt looks likely to have captain Leo Cullen (arm) and Shane Jennings (ankle) fit and available.
Isaac Boss returned to training, but is still some way from match fitness and so John Cooney looks set to continue at scrum half as Eoin Reddan is also struggling with a thigh strain.
Schmidt echoed the same sentiment for the former Munster and Wasps man as he had for D’Arcy; “He won’t train today – we’ll wait and see.”
