Leinster to give Tadhg Furlong every chance to prove his fitness ahead of La Rochelle but accept they will be without James Lowe

Leinster are hoping Tadhg Furlong will make his first appearance since October against La Rochelle on Sunday.

The tighthead has returned to squad training following being side-lined with a hamstring problem.

Furlong will travel to France if there are no setbacks between now and the end of the week.

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Said Assistant Coach Tyler Bleyendaal: “Look, I don’t have a strong feeling either way but we were able to slowly integrate guys and ramp up the training this week and Tadhg will take part in those sessions and you have to, especially him, assess how he can go for next time.”

“It is my understanding that he is working back to a timeline around then. We obviously want him playing for Leinster and that’s his goal in the meantime, to try and get on the field before the Six Nations period.

"But we’re not rushing him, putting pressure on him. He’s out on the field now so that is the next step in his progress.”

James Lowe has not been squad training and is starting to be doubtful for the opening of the Six Nations campaign although there is better news about Dan Sheehan.

“It’s a great time of year to get more bodies back on the pitch,” added Bleyendaal. “It just fuels that competition for places and it is great to have those selections headaches.

“I’m not sure on Dan's the timeline but it is really great to have him back on the training field and integrating with those forwards unit sessions and open-field running. It’s exciting but we’re not putting pressure on him about returning to 15-on-15 type training.,

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