{"id":645826,"date":"2026-10-05T21:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T21:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/645826\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T21:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T21:28:09","slug":"leinster-latest-bi-lions-star-in-timely-return-but-ireland-duo-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/645826\/","title":{"rendered":"Leinster latest: B&I Lions star in timely return but Ireland duo out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leinster<\/a> look set for a major boost ahead of their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash against Cardiff on Saturday, with Jamison Gibson-Park back available.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The British and Irish Lions and Ireland Test star missed Leinster\u2019s tour of South Africa in the opening rounds of the 2026\/27 season after a groin injury suffered during the Nations Championship campaign back in July.<\/p>\n

He was a mainstay in Leinster\u2019s starting XV last season as they reached the Investec Champions Cup final and won a second successive URC title, making 17 appearances for the province in all competitions.<\/p>\n

Jamison Gibson-Park back in timely Leinster boost<\/p>\n

But, after progressing through his rehab in pre-season, Gibson-Park is now back in full training with the Dublin-based side and becomes available immediately for their upcoming meeting with Cardiff.<\/p>\n

His return is especially timely, too, with Leinster<\/a> falling to back-to-back defeats in the opening two rounds of the new season, going down 27-26 against the Lions and 26-20 against the Sharks.<\/p>\n

However, while the return of Gibson-Park gives Leo Cullen<\/a> a crucial lift ahead of Saturday\u2019s home opener, it comes amid the backdrop of both Max Deegan and Harry Byrne again being ruled out. The Ireland-capped duo both missed Leinster\u2019s Durban defeat due to concussion, and following their return to Irish soil, they will now go for further assessment as they progress through their return-to-play protocols.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Leinster are also without Jack Boyle (Achilles), RG Snyman (knee), Caelan Doris (foot\/knee), Paddy McCarthy (foot), Jordan Larmour (calf), Diarmuid Mangan (foot), James Culhane (hamstring), and Joey Carbery (knee), with that cohort still on the sidelines.<\/p>\n

Munster v Bulls: Five takeaways as \u2018rookie inclusion\u2019 becomes \u201916-point game-winning masterstroke\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite tasting defeat in both of their opening fixtures, Leinster sit 13th in the league table with three points to their name, but a win and results elsewhere falling their way could see them climb as high as sixth. However, a defeat could allow the likes of Zebre, Ospreys and Scarlets to leapfrog them at the bottom.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Sharks v Leinster: Five takeaways as Springboks stars \u2018at the forefront\u2019 of hosts\u2019 onslaught in memorable win over champions<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leinster look set for a major boost ahead of their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash against Cardiff on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":645827,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17879,1100,61,60,60320,10562,43,14881],"class_list":["post-645826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-cardiff-rugby","tag-home-page","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jamison-gibson-park","tag-leinster","tag-news","tag-united-rugby-championship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}