Andy Farrell will be without star full-back Hugo Keenan for Ireland’s daunting two-Test tour of South Africa after he opted to go for gold at the Paris Olympics by rejoining the IRFU’s Sevens programme.
The 28-year-old spent almost two years playing the shortened form of the game before making his breakthrough in 2020 and has since gone on to become one of the pre-eminent players in his position in the world.
He returned from injury against Ulster last weekend and is expected to start in this week’s Champions Cup final in London, before joining up with the Sevens team next week.
That will rule him out of Leinster’s final URC game against Connacht and the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the tournament as he prepares for the final leg of the SVNS series in Madrid.
Before then, he’ll likely line out with the squad at the Rugby Europe Sevens competition in Croatia.
If Leinster reach the URC…