Connacht lose fullback until February 2017 after hand surgery

With Connacht now giving up more players to the national team and competing in the Champions Cup, as well as defending their league title, this is an awful blow.

Connacht kick off their title defence with a Saturday evening [5:15pm] tie against Glasgow Warriors at the Sportsground. It is no surprise in professional rugby squads for several senior players to be missing for weeks and months at a time. Hand injuries, however, have taken two players out of the selection mix for a while. Flanker Jake Heenan ruptured an artery in his hand during a pre-season excursion to France. The hand [pictured below] is currently healing, post surgery, and the Kiwi is expected back in October. The news is not so good for Darragh Leader. The 23-year-old, who can cover fullback and either wing, is out of action until February 2017 after undergoing surgery on his hand. Late last season, Leader missed six weeks after fracturing a finger. With Robbie Henshaw now at Leinster, Leader would have been hoping to press Tiernan O'Halloran for the fullback role. Connacht may not deploy recent arrival Cian Kelleher in the No.15 jersey. Elsewhere, Nathan White [concussion], Craig Ronaldson [thigh], Sean O'Brien [ankle], Eoghan Masterson [knee], Quinn Roux [hip], Ben Marshall [concussion] and Andrew Browne [thigh] are all out of the selection mix for the coming weeks. And the season only starts on Friday. The new GAA Hour football podcast is here. Listen to Colm Parkinson, Senan Connell, and Barry Cahill dissect a classic between Dublin and Kerry. Subscribe here on iTunes.