Leinster hopeful on Ringrose and Keenan for Saints tie

Leo Cullen is hopeful that Hugo Keenan and Garry Ringrose will be available for Leinster's Investec Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton Saints.

The BKT URC leaders, currently in South Africa preparing to take on the Stormers on Saturday, face the English Premiership table-toppers at Croke Park on Saturday, 4 May.

Ireland full-back Keenan withdrew from their European quarter-final win over La Rochelle prior to the game on 13 April with a hip injury, while centre Ringrose has been out of action with a shoulder issue since the last game of the Six Nations campaign on 16 March.

The duo, along with versatile back Jimmy O’Brien, who is recovering from a neck injury, will be further assessed this week.

"I don’t think it’s anything too serious," Cullen (below) told RTÉ Sport on Monday afternoon.

"[Hugo] trained the week of the La Rochelle game and on the Thursday it didn’t quite settle down. Then on the Friday he did the warm-up and he said it didn’t feel quite right.

"We said we’d let him sleep on it and talk the following [match] day.

"He played the week before and he trained that week.

"Some of the guys had time off last week so they are coming back in today.

"Garry should be fine and Jimmy is a bit more delicate from his neck.

"He’s been training away for a good few weeks not so he’s just waiting on that final sign-off. That’s between him and the specialist."

Centre Charles Ngatai and scrum-half Cormac Foley both reported no issues after their comeback games against the Lions, while Brian Deeny was a late withdrawal "as a precaution" before the match and will be assessed during the week.

Leinster suffered a rare league loss in Johannesburg, failing to pick up a bonus point in a 44-12 defeat.

Their lead at the top of the table