O'Driscoll may be back in time to face Clermont Auvergne

RUGBY:LEINSTER COACH Michael Cheika is optimistic that Brian O'Driscoll (strained medial knee ligament) will be fit for the province's Heineken Cup quarter-final against Clermont Auvergne at the RDS on Friday fortnight, while Gordon D'Arcy (groin strain) could be eligible for selection a week earlier, in time for the Good Friday Magners League clash against Munster at Thomond Park.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of Saturday’s match against Connacht at the RDS, Cheika intimated his first choice centre pairing, who limped away from Ireland’s defeat by Scotland last weekend, were operating to different rehabilitation timescales.

This positive prognosis offered a counterpoint to the news that Shane Horgan (foot), Nathan Hines (knee), Kevin McLaughlin (shoulder) and Shaun Berne (Achilles) were nursing injuries of varying severity. He also confirmed that long-term injury victim Luke Fitzgerald would not play again this season.

In discerning a pecking order of concern, the Australian explained that Horgan, O’Driscoll and Hines would carry top billing in that respect.

“We’ve got a bit of a list. Nathan Hines is carrying a knock and Shaun Berne hasn’t trained since going off at the weekend, so we have a bit of a situation but it’s not drastic. We’ll be all hands on deck to get recovery right.

“But it’s also about getting refuelled; for example for a guy like Brian (O’Driscoll) not only does he need to recover, but he needs to refuel, so he can get ready for the challenges.

“We’re targeting the Clermont Auvergne match for his return and we’ve a good medical staff so we’d be pretty confident he’s going to be there.

“I wouldn’t be negative about it, I’m a big believer in the power of positive thought.

“We’ll take it a step at a time, but we are working backwards from that match and we’ve got a good plan.”

“He’s (D’Arcy) pretty confident himself that once he has a five/six day recovery period he could start some preparations next week and then we’ll make a decision on whether he plays in the Munster fixture.”

Horgan hasn’t played since February 20th in the victory over the Scarlets and that inactivity – he missed the last two matches against Cardiff and Glasgow – is a pressing issue for his coach.

Cheika admitted: “It’s been difficult to find the cause of the pain but we feel we now have a handle on it. I know he’ll be missing this week but we’d hope to have him back within the next two weeks after that.

“It’ll be a bit of an issue because he hasn’t played in a while so we need to make sure he’s got the required preparation before we can unleash him. So it’d be pretty important for him to play next week.”

He explained that in McLaughlin’s case the damage to the shoulder isn’t too bad and given the player’s recent workload with the Ireland squad and Leinster he would have been rested on Saturday anyway.

Hines’ knee problem – a decision will be taken tomorrow on whether he plays against Connacht – that flared up while training with Scotland means that plans to play him as a blindside flanker at the RDS at the weekend may have to be shelved.

Cian Healy and Jamie Heaslip have been given the weekend off after their Ireland exertions.

It is a fate shared by Paul O’Connell, John Hayes, David Wallace, Tomas O’Leary and Keith Earls, who have been excused Munster duty for Friday night’s clash with the Glasgow Warriors at Thomond Park.

The quintet will train individually this week, but haven’t been involved with the rest of the squad.

Donncha O’Callaghan, Ronan O’Gara and Tony Buckley are all included in an extended panel.

Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin welcomes back Ireland team and squad members Paddy Wallace, Tom Court, Stephen Ferris, Rory Best and Andrew Trimble, plus Scottish winger Simon Danielli for Friday night’s trip to Wales and a game against Cardiff Blues.