Tomás eyes November comeback

HEARTBROKEN Tomás O’Leary insists he’ll be close to competitive action by November.

The Munster and Ireland star missed out on the Heineken Cup semi-final and the Lions tour to South Africa after suffering an horrific ankle injury in April against the Scarlets in the Magners League.

O’Leary, at the Fitzgerald’s Vienna Woods Hotel in Cork yesterday where he picked up the Glanmire and District Sports award for April, said he was confident of making a quicker-than-expected recovery from an injury that saw him not only break an ankle but suffer a dislocation and severe ligament damage.

O’Leary, who was having a sensational year for his province and who played a starring role for Ireland in their Triple Crown and Grand Slam victories, said the medical specialists are satisfied everything is going to plan, giving him an added boost on the long road to recovery.

The Cork man, already off crutches and walking with his foot encased in a special protective boot, flies out on Thursday to join Declan Kidney’s touring party for the Churchill Cup games the following week against Canada and Georgia. O’Leary will continue his rehabilitation with the Irish team of physios already with the party.