Jonathan Sexton looks likely to have a chance to put his disappointing end to the Six Nations behind him in a return to Magners League action against Connacht at the RDS on Saturday (4pm).
The Leinster and Ireland outhalf endured a torrid time off the tee in his three starts in the championship, scoring just six from 16 efforts at the posts against England, Wales and Scotland.
Though his performances in open play and in defence left little to be desired, Leinster coach Michael Cheika will be keen for the St Mary’s man to find his range in time for the European Cup quarter-final meeting with Clermont Auvergne on Friday fortnight, though the coach insists he is focused solely on Connacht at the moment.
"This period of the calendar is always a bit difficult to manage but it's a good time to test the strength of our squad," he said today.
"We might look to rotate the squad a bit more because we have a big run of games coming up. These are 10 of the biggest weeks of my career here and we're not looking past each individual test."
Also back at Cheika’s disposal are captain Leo Cullen, flanker Shane Jennings, fullback Rob Kearney and scrumhalf Eoin Reddan.
Cheika has concerns over centres Brian O'Driscoll (knee) and Gordon D'Arcy (groin), but is hopeful the Ireland captain will will recover in time to face Clermont, while D'Arcy could face Munster in the league on Friday week. "With Brian, we're targeting his return for Clermont and Gordon is pretty confident that after a five or six day rest that he could play against Munster," said the Australian.
Prop Cian Healy and number eight Jamie Heaslip are being given time off after a punishing campaign with Ireland but are due back next week.
In the absence of the Ireland contingent, Cheika was not let down by the up and coming members of the squad, especially Stephen Keogh, Eoin Sheriff, Eoin O'Malley and Fergus McFadden, who amassed 36 points in his last two league outings.
All four are retained, while Andrew Conway and Rhys Ruddock, fresh from winning the Six Nations under-20 crown, are included and expected to be retained when the provisional panel is reduced at lunchtime on Friday.
"It's pretty likely that Conway and Ruddock will be involved (this weekend) and that's part of the culture that we're trying to build here," added Cheika. "We have been pretty happy with the young guys who have come up recently and players like Ian Madigan have shown real physicality which is pleasing.”
Leinster squad (v Connacht)
Forwards:Leo Cullen, John Fogarty, Nathan Hines, Trevor Hogan, Bernard Jackman, Shane Jennings, Stephen Keogh, Ronan McCormack, Malcolm O'Kelly, Mike Ross, Rhys Ruddock, Paul Ryan, Eoin Sheriff, Richardt Strauss, Devin Toner, CJ van der Linde, Stan Wright
Backs:Shaun Berne, Andrew Conway, Girvan Dempsey, Chris Keane, David Kearney, Rob Kearney, Michael Keating, Simon Keogh, Ian Madigan, Fergus McFadden, Isa Nacewa, Paul O'Donohoe, Eoin O'Malley, Eoin Reddan, Jonathan Sexton