RINGROSE AND O'BRIEN BOTH FIT FOR LEINSTER'S SEMI-FINAL DATE WITH NORTHAMPTON

LEINSTER HAVE CONFIRMED that Garry Ringrose and Jimmy O’Brien will both be fit to face Northampton Saints in this weekend’s Champions Cup semi-final clash at Croke Park [KO 5.30pm, RTÉ/TNT Sports].

Ringrose has been struggling with a shoulder injury in recent months, having last played for the province in January.

He missed most of Ireland’s Six Nations campaign with the injury, his sole appearance coming off the bench in the round five defeat of Scotland. The centre has been sidelined with the same injury since returning from Ireland camp.

O’Brien has missed even more rugby having been out of action with a neck injury since the December Champions Cup win against Sale Sharks.

However both players will return to full training this week and come into the selection mix for Saturday’s game in Croke Park.

Leinster also hope to have Hugo Keenan available, although a decision on his fitness will not be made until later in the week as he continues to rehab a hip problem.

Otherwise the province reported no fresh injury concerns following their two-game URC trip to South Africa.

There was no update available on James Ryan (arm), Tommy O’Brien (hamstring) or Alex Soroka (foot).

2024-04-29T13:18:48Z dg43tfdfdgfd