Raft of injuries for Irish provinces ahead of Champions Cup return fixtures

Three wins from four but some Irish provinces suffered worse than others in terms of a physical toll.

While Munster and Ulster provided the Saturday highs, the provinces that book-ended the weekend's Champions Cup action are counting the cost. Leinster and Connacht both had to deal with a spate of worrying injuries. Leinster's injury blows are tempered somewhat by an eight-day turnaround but Connacht are next up on Saturday [six days]. Leo Cullen's Leinster had to deal with the loss of Joey Carbery and Rob Kearney to ankle injuries during his side's impressive win over Northampton Saints. Carbery is unlikely to feature in this Saturday's return tie at the Aviva Stadium, meaning Ross Byrne is set to start at No.10. Curiously, Leinster insisted Byrne, who did well as an early sub for Carbery, was lucid and not in need of a Head Injury Assessment after this grim clash of heads with winger Rory O'Loughlin. One would have expected that, having reviewed the footage and witnessed the blood pouring from Byrne's head, that a HIA would have followed soon after. Sean O'Brien was one player that did undergo a HIA - following a nasty, swinging arm tackle from Dylan Hartley. He was not deemed fit to return to the field and will now go through the Return To Play protocols this week. Cullen did express his hope that O'Brien and Kearney would be fit for this Saturday. Connacht, meanwhile, were left hurting after their trip to the Ricoh Arena proved fruitless [and pointless]. Connacht coach Pat Lam must hope that two or three from his injured quintet - Bundee Aki [dead leg], Stacey Ili [ankle], Jake Heenan [knee], Cian Kelleher [hamstring] and Tiernan O'Halloran [hip] - can line out against Wasps in the return fixture. Ulster and Munster, who respectively beat Clermont and Leicester Tigers, have relatively clean bills of health. Munster director of rugby Rassie Erasmus confirmed, following his side's 38-0 win, that 'bumps and bruises' were the height of it. Diarmuid Connolly makes his long overdue GAA Hour debut and talks to Colm Parkinson about everything from the black card to his rivalry with Lee Keegan and how he honed the ability to kick accurately with either foot.