Schmidt frets over knees, bumps and bruises

THE season finale that everyone, with the possible exception of Declan Kidney, wanted has been delivered with Leinster and Munster successfully negotiating their way through their respective Magners League semi-finals over the weekend.

What it means is that the majority of Ireland’s potential World Cup squad will now be in action right up to the last day of the season reducing their recovery period before the real work starts in July for the build up to New Zealand. We will leave the implications of that for another day.

Right now, the hottest item in rugby is Leinster who face the biggest 12 days in their history. Nothing is straight-forward, however, and a series of unfortunate injuries to key personnel in the win over Ulster on Friday night is sure to occupy Joe Schmidt’s mind for the next few days.