Ryan aiming to keep Leinster in the hunt

RaboDirect PRO12: Cardiff Blues v Leinster

All four Irish provinces return to RaboDirect PRO12 duties between today and tomorrow after a month-long hiatus and, with three games to play in the next three weeks, league ambitions are set to rise and fall while the country’s top players are distracted by the business at hand in the Six Nations.

For Leinster, who lie third and a dozen points behind leaders Ulster, the goal will be to overtake Glasgow and occupy the penultimate slot in the ladder by the time the stars return some time in mid-March.