Skelton late addition to La Rochelle squad for Stade Francais Top 14 clash

Ronan O'Gara has named second row Will Skelton in the La Rochelle squad to face Stade Francais this evening.

A run out for the Australian lock in the Top 14 today will put him firmly in the frame to face Leinster in next Saturday's Heineken Champions Cup final in Marseille.

Speaking yesterday, O'Gara suggested that the 30-year-old former Saracens man would be out for the rest of the season with a calf injury.

"No, he won't be playing this weekend anyway unless... I have a medical meeting at lunch time today," O'Gara said on Newstalk.

"It's a day-by-day process with Will. He's a very important player for this group, for what we want to do in Europe, for what we want to do in the Top 14.

"I have spoken to him. I told him I expect to see him in pre-season, but I don't think he accepts that, so we will wait and see."

However, despite not being named in the original 23-man squad to face the Paris club today, Skelton has taken the place of Eneriko Buliruarua on the bench for a vital game for O'Gara's men who are outside the play-off places.

Leinster boss Leo Cullen said yesterday that he doesn't pay attention to much of O'Gara's comments in the media.

"I'd be very wary of anything that the coach of La Rochelle says in the media because I’m sure he knows exactly what’s going on in his own world versus what he wants to put out there in the world," he told RTÉ Sport ahead of this evening's URC clash with Munster.

Follow Leinster v La Rochelle (Saturday 4.45pm) in the Champions Cup final via our live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app live or listen live on RTÉ Radio 1.