Leamy ‘keeping fingers crossed’ ahead of ankle scan

DENIS LEAMY undergoes an MRI scan on an injured ankle in Cork today and hopes to be play in Munster’s Heineken Cup quarter-final with Perpignan at Lansdowne Road on April 1.

He was cautiously optimistic yesterday about his chances of a full recovery, and could well benefit from the loss of a night’s sleep after his heroics in Twickenham on Saturday.

He said: “Basically, I needed to keep the ankle wrapped in ice, so it was a question of drifting off to sleep and then waking up again to do more of the same. I’m just hoping that everything will be fine. I have been able to put weight on my ankle and I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

“The initial tests showed there is no break now I have to wait for the scan, but I’m feeling a lot better than I did in the few hours after the game. It’s going to be another agonising wait until I get the results of the scan.”

He described getting the injury.

“I got hit by three guys. I went three different ways but I did manage to pull my leg away at the last second. I knew I had done some damage, but I reckon it could have been worse. I tried to play on, but thought better of trying that once I put my weight on the leg.

“I knew it would have been impossible to give 100% for those last 10 minutes and I was aware that Johnny O’Connor would be able to come in and do the job.”

Meanwhile, Munster’s Christian Cullen continues his rehab from injury and played for Midleton in a friendly against Cork Constitution.

Cullen came safely through a 30-minute run with the east Cork side and is now likely to figure in Munster’s Celtic League clash with Llanelli at Stradey Park on Saturday. Cullen made his return after a shoulder injury for Munster A against Leinster A last week.