Last Friday’s 21-13 defeat by Northampton Saints in Donnybrook was Leinster’s final pre-season fixture before the start of their RaboDirect Pro12 campaign this coming Friday, but for international scrum-half Eoin Reddan it represented his first piece of on-field action since breaking his leg against France in the RBS Six Nations on March 10.

Try as we might, sport simply isn’t meant to be stripped of its capacity to toy with our emotions.

Leinster’s back line options, already weakened after the summer movements, have been further reduced ahead of the new season with the news that Eoin O’Malley has been forced to retire from rugby at the age of 25.

All that remains now is the timing.

Leinster scrum coach Greg Feek knows his team will have to try and curb the influence of Munster second row Paul O’Connell when the two provinces go head to head in Saturday’s RaboDirect PRO12 clash at Thomond Park (6.30pm).

AMLIN CUP QUARTER-FINAL:

Injury updates from Leinster’s UCD base have more often than not been dispiriting affairs this season but yesterday’s was refreshingly positive ahead of tomorrow’s Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final away to Wasps.

As if Joe Schmidt doesn’t have enough on his plate.

Leinster management has confirmed that flyhalf Jonathan Sexton is “unlikely” to make the starting XV for Friday’s Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final against London Wasps at Adams Park (8pm).

Form and fitness may be accepted prerequisites when choosing any squad but Warren Gatland will have little of either to go on in the case of Jonathan Sexton when he announces his British and Irish Lions touring party next month.

Leinster have been boosted by the return of a number of key players after the Six Nations window, allowing Joe Schmidt to name a much-changed starting XV for tomorrow’s RaboDirect PRO12 game against Glasgow Warriors.

Ireland's most capped player Ronan O'Gara could have played his last international game after been left out of the Declan Kidney's 32-man training squad ahead of Saturday's Six Nations clash with France.

Ronan O’Gara’s glittering international career could be over after he was dropped from the 32-man Ireland training squad ahead of Saturday’s Six Nations clash with France.

Leinster will not be allowed to sign a replacement from overseas if Brian O’Driscoll retires at the end of the season.

Leinster are scouring the world for a replacement for departing out-half Jonny Sexton, according to their skills and kicking coach Richie Murphy.

With Leinster forced to cope without a host of internationals during the RBS Six Nations, young trio David Kearney, Eoin O’Malley and Dominic Ryan have made a timely return to training.

Three things to look out for in this weekend’s Heineken Cup action

Leinster have raised the drawbridge ahead of their do-or-die Heineken Cup tie against Scarlets next weekend and retreated to the solitude of Johnstown House in Co. Meath for a two-day camp.

The Leinster squad may be bolstered by the return of Isa Nacewa and Richartd Strauss ahead of their crucial Heineken Cup Pool 5 clash with the Scarlets at the RDS on Saturday (6pm).

Leinster boss Joe Schmidt confirmed he will have five players back from injury ahead of the Heineken Cup.

There’s been a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth since the Irish whitewash in Europe over the weekend but it is about time people start to realise that we have no divine right to be winning Heineken Cups with the regularity we’ve enjoyed in recent times.

Usually the weekends bring the good vibes and Mondays the backdraft of depression but the status quo was turned on its head for Leinster yesterday with some welcome snippets of positive news to help banish their Saturday night blues.

Leinster and Ireland hooker Richardt Strauss is facing four weeks on the sidelines after sustaining an arm injury in the province’s Heineken Cup defeat to Clermont Auvergne on Saturday.

Leinster 21 Clermont Auvergne 28

Yesterday’s Leinster press conference was up and running for nearly 10 minutes before Joe Schmidt felt obliged to remind everyone that the province had a Heineken Cup game against Clermont Auvergne to play at the weekend.

Mike Ross is confident his contract talks with the IRFU will result in a deal that keeps him at Leinster well beyond next summer when his current deal is due to expire.

Blindside flanker Kevin McLaughlin is Leinster’s biggest injury concern ahead of their must-win Heineken Cup Pool 5 meeting with Clermont Auvergne at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday (3.40pm).

Fifty games.

This is Cian Healy’s seventh season knocking around the Leinster dressing-room and the Ireland prop can’t remember the province’s squad being stronger or deeper than it is now.

Clermont’s Stade Marcel Michelin, with its high-banked tiers packed with vociferous supporters, has earned a reputation as European rugby’s most robust fortress but Isa Nacewa believes Leinster will bring their own 16th man to France next Sunday.

The glow from Ireland’s defeat of Argentina at the Aviva Stadium swept across Dublin’s southside to UCD yesterday with the confirmation that Brian O’Driscoll and Rob Kearney should both be fit for the start of the Six Nations next February.

Leinster second-row Quinn Roux is facing a lengthy rehabilitation process after the province’s medical team confirmed the South African dislocated his shoulder against Glasgow Warriors at the weekend.

Leinster’s long-term injury sufferer Eoin O’Malley is hopeful of making a return for the province in their RaboDirect PRO12 meeting with the Ospreys at the Liberty stadium on Sunday (4pm).

The Leinster squad trained in UCD todayahead of their final RaboDirect PRO12 game before the November break away to the Ospreys in the Liberty Stadium on Sunday afternoon (KO: 4pm).

When Leinster take to the Parc Y Scarlets turf for their round two Heineken Cup pool tie tomorrow lunchtime they will be facing a team that, in many respects, should conjure up memories of themselves five or six years ago.

There was some good news in a bad week for Leinster rugby as Joe Schmidt sent strong signals that he is ready to sign a new two-year contract.

Joe Schmidt would be “flattered” if offered a coaching role for the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia but the Leinster chief doesn’t expect such a call from his Kiwi compatriot Warren Gatland.

The Leinster medical team reported no major fresh injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s RaboDirect PRO12 opener away to the Scarlets in Parc y Scarlets (6.30pm).

Joe Schmidt gets his first chance today to run the rule over the Leinster fringe players who will steer him through the early stages of the RaboDirect Pro12 campaign when they meet Gloucester in a friendly at Tallaght Stadium (5pm).

Ulster’s Paul Marshall, or one of the departing and returning Munster number nines Tomás O’Leary and Peter Stringer, are in line to make the Irish party who play a three-match Test series against New Zealand next month.

Leinster scrum-half Isaac Boss remains doubtful for the province as they prepare for Sunday’s RaboDirect PRO12 final against the Ospreys in the RDS (4pm).

By Ian Cusack

Brian O’Driscoll is confident he will be fit for Leinster’s Heineken Cup final with Ulster on Saturday despite undergoing a minor surgical procedure on his injured knee last week.

Eoin O’Malley will miss both of Leinster’s upcoming finals after a scan confirmed the centre suffered ligament damage in his knee in Leinster’s PRO12 semi-final against the Glasgow Warriors on Saturday.