BOD backs decision to give Kearney recovery time

Rob Kearney deserves the chance to prove himself fit for the Lions tour, believes Leinster and Ireland team-mate Brian O’Driscoll.

With the injury which caused the full-back to miss his province’s RaboDirect Pro12 final against Leinster being diagnosed as a slight grade one hamstring tear, Kearney has been ruled out until next Tuesday’s game against the NSW-Queensland Combined Country in Newcastle at the earliest and Lions head coach Warren Gatland said yesterday that he wanted to give the player time to recover and play in his second tour.

O’Driscoll endorsed that approach, saying Kearney’s outlook “could be better and it could be worse”.