Sean O’Brien to sit out the start of the Six Nations

Sean O'Brien is set to miss at least the first game of this year's Six Nations due to a hip injury.

Leinster confirmed that their backrow forward has undergone a hip procedure, saying in a statement on Friday that; "Seán O'Brien saw a specialist this week for the tightness in his hip as it hadn't responded to treatment as we would have liked.

“As a result he had a small procedure and the target is to have O’Brien back available during the Six Nations window.”

The first Six Nations window for the provinces is after Ireland’s round one trip to the Stade de France to take on France on February 3rd. Six days later Leinster travel to Edinburgh in the Pro14. O’Brien will need game time to force his way back into Joe Schmidt’s plans, so it’s likely he will feature for Leinster during that window. That would also rule him out of the visit of Italy to the Aviva a day later (February 10th).