Garry Ringrose eyes Six Nations return against England

Garry Ringrose is hoping to be fully fit for Ireland's Guinness Six Nations clash with England on Saturday week.

The 29-year-old Leinster centre last played in the province’s Champions Cup win over Leicester on 20 January.

A shoulder injury has kept the Dubliner out of Ireland’s championship victories over France, Italy and Wales.

"It’s going well, it’s obviously been tough, missing out on being available for the last three games but the rehab is progressing well and I’m hoping all going well to be available for the last two games," he told RTÉ Sport.

"We have this week, the timing of the second down week is probably good to give an extra few days to hopefully get it right. That’s the plan, to be available.

"I’ve hurt that shoulder in the past but it was in the Leicester game where I picked up a couple of knocks on it. I was able to play the game through and only flagged it with the medics afterwards.

"It probably had some time for swelling and irritation to build up in the joint, and then a few things shut down that needed to get back firing again.

"Thankfully, the lads [medical team] have been all over it and helped me massively in the last couple of weeks and thankfully been able to stay in the environment with the guys and try and help where I can and train some weeks as well.

"From that perspective, it’s gone really well hopefully this week it goes well and be available for the last two."

In his absence, Andy Farrell picked Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw, for the win over Les Bleus and Saturday’s 31-7 success over Wales, while Stuart McCloskey stood in against Italy.

Largely a first-choice starter under Farrell, Ringrose, an ambassador for the National Dairy Council and the NDC Guarantee Mark, knows he has a battle on his