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Leo Cullen gives positive update on Ciarán Frawley injury after Leinster's win over Stade Francais

Frawley was removed early in the second half with an injury
Frawley was removed early in the second half with an injury

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has eased fears over Ciarán Frawley's injury, after the out-half picked was removed early in the second half of his side's 43-7 win against Stade Francais.

The Ireland international looked in real discomfort after he shipped a heavy tackle in the 43rd minute of the Investec Champions Cup win, and was instantly replaced by Sam Prendergast.

With Frawley set to contest the Ireland 10 shirt with Munster's Jack Crowley for the Six Nations next month, thoughts instantly turned to Andy Farrell's squad announcement next Wednesday.

But Cullen allayed those worries, with the knock not as bad as first feared.

"He got a bang on the back there, but he's OK," the Leinster coach said.

"He's in the dressing room there, he's fine. I don't think it's bad, but that's my amateur eye. He looked alright."

Frustratingly for Frawley, the 26-year-old had impressed prior to the injury, having been given an opportunity at number 10 following an injury to Harry Byrne.

The versatile back showed some neat touches in the opening half, although Leinster's overall performance was stuttering in the first 40 minutes, before they eventually got into their groove in the seven-try win.

"We created some good chances, we have a try chalked off at the very start, we just needed that try to settle us into the game is what it feels like. I think everyone's expecting us to go out there and score some tries. It just took a little bit of time.

"Then guys are maybe trying a little too hard at times, and that's all the way through the game. I thought we are trying very hard on both sides of the ball, so eventually we get in and score three tries in the first half which is pleasing. Start of the second half, we made that change early and got in for a couple of good tries. Defensively we looked pretty sound overall," he added.

The win sees Leinster complete the formality of booking their place in the last 16 of the Champions Cup, but they'll face a tougher challenge next weekend when they head to the Leicester Tigers, looking to complete a clean sweep of the pool and secure a high seed in the knockouts.

"We gave away a couple of cheap penalties to give Stade a fair bit of access, and that's the bit for us with next week in mind. You give a team like Leicester that type of access, they can punish you at Welford Road.

"We just need to be a little better at managing that part. Overall we're pretty pleased, we'll watch that game with great interest tomorrow, La Rochelle and Leicester.

"We have the advantage of an extra day, so it's making sure we make use of it in the course of the week."

The Leinster coach was particularly pleased to get James Lowe back on the pitch, with the Ireland international marking his first game of the season with an early try.

And Cullen said it didn't surprise him to see the 31-year-old hit the ground running.

"It was good to get him through 80 minutes as well. We had Tommy [O'Brien] on the bench and trying to figure out who to bring him on for. We brought him on for Garry [Ringrose] because we just wanted to see that, James was feeling pretty good at that point."

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