Rugby:Leinster could have both Brian O'Driscoll and Leo Cullen available for Saturday's Heineken Cup trip to Wembley. O'Driscoll limped off with a hamstring injury at the weekend but subsequent scans revealed the problem is not as serious as first feared.
Given his history of hamstring trouble, it had been assumed there was little chance of O’Driscoll featuring against Saracens and his participation in the November international series was also in question.
But the centre had an MRI scan this afternoon, with the province describing the results as “good news”. A decision on his involvement against the English side will be taken later in the week with Fergus McFadden and Shane Horgan on standby.
While a major question mark must still hang over O’Driscoll’s availability, Joe Schmidt is hopeful Cullen will make his first appearance of the season. The win over Racing-Metro came a week two soon for the Leinster skipper but he should be fit for the trip to London.
Saracens expect to attract at least 45,000 to Wembley and Seán O’Brien, man-of-the-match against Racing, is looking forward to playing at the home of English football.
“It is certainly an exciting prospect,” said the Carlow man. “None of us have ever played there before and some of us have never even been there before, so it will be something new. It’ll be something different and everyone’s looking forward to getting over there and seeing what it’s like.
“It is always good to have a massive crowd and a great atmosphere. The atmosphere in the Aviva Stadium when we played Munster was exceptional and I’m sure the atmosphere at Wembley is going to be the same, if not better. That’ll be good for both teams.
“And we do have a lot of experience as a side of playing in these big games. There’s a good mix out there with younger lads who have played in games like these last year and the year before. We all know what it’s about and there will be no fear going over there.”