Injuries pile up for Leinster with a further three Ireland stars out

Leinster’s injury list has continued to grow after their Investec Champions Cup round one victory over Bristol Bears, with Ciaran Frawley now ruled out of Saturday’s fixture with ASM Clermont Auvergne.

Frawley started at full-back at Ashton Gate in the 12-35 victory, but only managed 40 minutes before being replaced by Jordie Barrett. In an injury update this week, Leinster have confirmed that the 27-year-old is ruled out with a back injury, and will require further assessment.

Leinster’s back-three reserves may be stretched over the coming weeks, with James Lowe and Hugo Keenan – both absent in the win over the Bears – now confirmed as unavailable through injury.

Lowe has picked up a calf injury, and, like Frawley, will be assessed further this week.

There is slightly more clarity with Keenan’s issue though, with a wrist injury ruling him out for a “few weeks”.

There has been no update on another trio of Ireland internationals – Will Connors, Jamie Osborne and Tadhg Furlong – who were all ruled out of last week’s clash. They will likely remain on the sidelines alongside long-term absentees Rob Russell and Dan Sheehan.

Fortunately for Leo Cullen, he was able to exhibit Leinster’s strength in depth on Sunday in the west of England by unleashing his newly dubbed ‘Bomb Squad’.

Leinster’s bench comprised Ireland prop Andrew Porter, Ireland captain Caelan Doris, double World Cup-winning Springbok RG Snyman and All Black Barrett, who helped the four-time European champions pull away in the second half.

Assessing his side’s second-half performance, Cullen said post-match: “We are pleased to get the win. The second half was a lot better than the first half. We got on the wrong end of a lot of calls. The yellow cards led to a lot of pressure on us.

“When it was 14 (players) on 14, we scored three tries and played some really good stuff in that period of the game.

“It was great that Jordie got 40 minutes. It has taken a lot of work in terms of getting him here (to Leinster), and hopefully he will play a big part over the course of the season. He is a quality person and a quality player.”