O’Driscoll fitness worry

Brian O’Driscoll faces days of uncertainty before knowing whether he has played his last professional game of rugby with Leinster.

O’Driscoll took another heavy knock to his head and neck in Saturday’s RaboDirect Pro12 semi-final win over Ulster and could miss the final against Glasgow Warriors on May 31.

The iconic centre was flattened after tackling Irish team colleague Iain Henderson and was helped from the pitch by medical staff despite protests he was fit to play on.

The call to withdraw him after 49 minutes was made by Dr John Ryan who also insisted on replacing winger Fergus McFadden.

Leinster coach Matt O’Connor was happy the right decisions had been made, O’Driscoll replaced by match-winner Ian Madigan and McFadden by rookie scrum half Luke McGrath.

“John Ryan today had to make calls,” he said.

“They’re a very experienced medical team and they know what they’re dealing with. It’s about player welfare first and if they say the bloke can’t continue then the bloke can’t continue. You’ve got to adjust and if we have to put Luke McGrath on the wing then we know next time he will do a job.”

It’s too early to make a call on O’Driscoll’s fitness to play in a fortnight but he will be monitored by the medical staff under the return to play protocols.

“He got a bang on the neck so he is down there being assessed now and we’ll know more on Monday,” said O’Connor.

O’Driscoll will have already thanked Madigan for his contribution in helping Leinster into the final. Ulster led 9-0 when the centre was forced off and his side were heading for defeat.

It wasn’t the script O’Driscoll would have wanted in possibly his last game in a blue jersey.

His backline colleagues McFadden and Dave Kearney are also doubts.

McFadden will go through the same process as O’Driscoll, while Kearney was helped from the pitch after damaging his knee. He will undergo a scan today.