Kearney woe as Sexton and Carbery return

IRELAND’S out-half concerns eased yesterday with the returns of Johnny Sexton and Joey Carbery from injury, but Rob Kearney is a fresh worry for club and country. Sexton suffered a calf injury in the dying minutes of last weekend’s 17-10 win at Bath while Carbery was a late withdrawal from Munster’s starting lineup to face Castres at Thomond Park with a hamstring issue. Both have recovered for this weekend’s Champions Cup action but Kearney will sit out this evening’s clash with Bath due to an unspecified ‘knock’. This is the latest injury setback for Kearney this season after shoulder and quad issues in recent months. Leinster head coach Leo Cullen is confident, however, that Kearney will be back in the mix for next Saturday’s Guinness Pro14 meeting with Connacht at the RDS. ‘Rob picked up a knock in the game so didn’t come through the week so that’s why we made that change,’ said Cullen yesterday. ‘He should be touch and go for next week, hopefully.’ Jordan Larmour starts at fullback in Kearney’s place with Adam Byrne and Rory O’Loughlin earning recalls to the starting line-up. Leinster secured a hard-fought win at Bath last Saturday and are expecting another tough assignment

against the Premiership outfit this evening. The presence of Girvan Dempsey on Bath’s coaching staff is another cause for concern. The former Ireland full-back spent three seasons in Leinster’s backroom team before joining Bath as their attack coach in the summer. And Luke McGrath is wary of his former mentor. ‘We have looked a lot at Bath and we can see Girv coming through in their plays, especially their set-piece plays,’ said the Leisnter scrumhalf. ‘It is something we have looked to do in the past. I think when we are out there, we

are trying to come up with new plays that Girv would not have seen. ‘You know Girv has coached me at under-age level and everything so he knows a lot of our tricks but I think when you are out there you have to back the game-plan that we’ve done to be successful.’ For the likes of McGrath and the rest of Leinster’s Test stars, this will be their first game back at Lansdowne Road since last month’s triumph over the All Blacks. A crowd of 43,000 is expected through the gates this evening and McGrath is relishing a return to Leinster’s second home in the capital. ‘Yeah, we love playing here,’ he said. ‘When you walk out onto that pitch this morning and you see the big stage and knowing that it’s going to be 40-odd thousand might be here. ‘It is exceptionally special in there.’