Kearney out but Cheika fancies it

LEINSTER coach Michael Cheika will also have to plan for Saturday’s Heineken Cup semi-final without a would-be Lion after he confirmed last night that Rob Kearney’s bout of mumps will sideline him for the Croke Park sell-out.

With Munster coming to terms with the loss of Tomás O’Leary, their opponents must also plot without the considerable talents of Kearney.

“He’s not going to make it,” Cheika admitted last night. “But even if he was to get himself out (on the field) he has had no training behind him for the last 10 days so we wouldn’t even consider it. He had to go to hospital because he had quite a high fever, but he’s okay now.