Last week, we thought we had the first bit of positive post-World Cup injury news. Ulster coach Neil Doak suggested that the injury sustained by Tommy Bowe was not as bad as first feared. Unfortunately, we now know that's not the case and the Irish winger will be absent for the Six Nations along with Peter O'Mahony.
Given the fact that Jared Payne and Iain Henderson are also set to for a significant spell on the sidelines, it's fair to say that Ulster are coming out of all this particularly badly with the start of the Champions Cup on the horizon.
For Leinster however, there has been some good news. They kick off their European campaign with a clash against Wasps on November 15th and the good news is that all of their Irish contingent are back in training and look set to be available for that game. Most importantly, that includes Johnny Sexton with Leinster issuing the following update today.
All players that featured for Ireland at the Rugby World Cup have reported back to the province and took part in light training yesterday. These players are being assessed on a case-by-case basis.
That follows an update from forwards coach, John Fogarty, yesterday. He confirmed that although Sexton's groin injury will take some managing, he is on the way to recovery.
Johnny will be managed through the week. It's day one so he would have been assessed today and will continue to be assessed. He had a light run-out on the field.
That would suggest that Sexton's second debut won't come against Treviso this weekend. But he should return in time to take his place in the side against Wasps in the RDS in a little over two weeks time.
