O’Kelly fears unfounded
Irish coach Eddie O’Sullivan suggested the problem was a persistent one when O’Kelly was ruled out of international duty three weeks ago but his Leinster counterpart had a different slant on things.
“Contrary to what’s been said out there, he hasn’t got a chronic knee problem or anything like that. Mal picked up a knee problem in the week before the Gloucester game (last month) and he came off that day just after half-time. He really just hasn’t been able to get it right. He’s in a fair bit of pain.
“There’s no ligament damage or anything like that. There’s some treatment being done this week which we hope will get him back training again and then it’s just a matter of giving him a break and trying to get him fit for the games coming up in March and April.”
Meanwhile Cheika is hopeful flanker Keith Gleeson will be part of O’Sullivan’s Six Nations plans despite the fact that the former New South Wales Waratah misses tomorrow’s Magners League tie against Edinburgh.
Gleeson picked up an AC shoulder joint injury in the Irish ‘A’ team’s defeat to England Saxons in Ravenhill on Friday while Kieran Lewis, who picked up a back injury, should be fit for the game in Donnybrook.
Luke Fitzgerald, however, will play no part although he should recover in time for a proposed friendly at the start of March when Leinster will be on a bye weekend from the Magners League.
On the plus side, Cheika has been aided by the unexpected return to provincial duty of a handful of the Irish fringe players like Trevor Hogan and Jamie Heaslip.
It remains to be seen if Edinburgh will have the services of any of their considerable international contingent for the trip to Dublin. Thirteen of their side featured in last Saturday’s defeat of Wales in the Six Nations match at Murrayfield which goes some way to explaining why the visitors tomorrow night are currently third in the Magners League table.
“This is a good game in the context of the league,” said Cheika.
“We’ve got a bye in the next round so we have got to try and extend our lead if possible before that. They’re really doing everything they can to stay in it. They’re third and they have a game in hand on us.”
This will be the fourth time this season that the two sides have gone head to head. Edinburgh have claimed the spoils on two of those occasions but Leinster have won three Magners League games on the bounce since their December defeat in Thomond Park.
The problem is that they have been in cold storage since their last run-out against Llanelli three weeks ago and, after tomorrow night, they will face another four-week hiatus before competitive action.
Add in the absence of their drive time stars and it can’t have been easy to clock in at the office the last few weeks but veteran Australian forward Owen Finegan believes there is a flip side to all that.
“It’s a perfect opportunity for the younger blokes to step up to the mark. A lot of blokes are training for four or five months without a run. They have to wait until the internationals to get back in the mix.
“It’s a hard time because we’ve got two games in seven or eight weeks. It’s hard to keep motivated but the team understands that there’s a lot of room for improvement coming up to what will be the business end of the season.”
LEINSTER SQUAD: Forwards: S Wright, R Corrigan, R McCormack, W Green, H Vermaas, B Jackman, B Blaney, A Byrnes, O Finegan, T Hogan, D Toner, S Keogh, R Leyden, K McLaughlin, J Heaslip.
Backs: C Whitaker, G Easterby, F Contepomi, J Sexton, C Warner, N Ronan, M Berne, K Lewis, G Brown, F Carr, F McFadden, R Kearney.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
