Leinster lock James Ryan in training. Nick Elliott/INPHO

James Ryan nearing return from calf injury but Brian Deeny ruled out for rest of season

Will Connors, meanwhile, has suffered another stroke of misfortune, while RG Snyman is back in action.

LEINSTER AND IRELAND lock James Ryan has increased his training load this week following a recent calf injury and may have some involvement in the province’s Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton Saints on Saturday.

Ryan hasn’t taken to the field since Ireland’s Six Nations victory over Italy in Rome six weeks ago but the 28-year-old has moved nearer to a return to full fitness and will be assessed by Leinster’s medical staff as the week progresses.

Ryan’s fellow lock RG Snyman is back in full training and available to face Northampton but Brian Deeny has been ruled out for the rest of the season as he prepares to undergo surgery on a knee injury sustained in the URC Round 16 defeat to Scarlets.

The 25-year-old second row has made 14 appearances for Leinster this season, seven of them starts, and all of them in the league.

Like Ryan, back-three operator Rob Russell will up the ante in his training this week after missing the last couple of months.

Back row Will Connors, however, has been definitively ruled out of Saturday’s encounter with Saints after suffering an arm injury during Leinster’s URC defeat away to Scarlets. Leinster did not reveal the nature or the extent of Connors’ complaint, confirming only that he would be further assessed this week.

The last four years of Connors’ career have seen him plagued by such setbacks. Most recently, the 28-year-old Kildare man was named man of the match in Leinster’s narrow defeat to the Bulls in Pretoria before suffering a shoulder injury during the first half of their victory over the Sharks the following week.

That ruled him out of Leinster’s Champions Cup knockout victories over Harlequins and Glasgow respectively and after his return to action in Llanelli last Saturday, he will now face further treatment.

Leinster confirmed that Ryan Baird came through his return against Scarlets unscathed, while there was no update on longer-term absentee Jordan Larmour ahead of Saturday’s visit of Premiership side Saints.

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