Leo Cullen says some of the Ireland players who won't feature against Bath tomorrow may stay with the province for next weekend’s match against Stormers.
Tadhg Furlong, who made a return from a three-month injury lay-off against La Rochelle last weekend, is not in the 23 for their Investec Champions Cup match at Aviva Stadium on Saturday (5.30pm).
Ireland's interim head coach Simon Easterby named a 36-man panel for the Six Nations earlier this week with the suggestion that hooker Dan Sheehan and wing James Lowe would travel to Portugal to join with the Ireland squad following the Stormers game.
Cullen said today that 32-year-old Furlong, just back from a hamstring injury, could also be retained with that match in mind.
Ireland begin their campaign against England on 1 February and Ryan Baird, Jack Boyle, Ciarán Frawley are the other international squad members who aren’t involved in tomorrow’s Pool 2 clash for Leinster.
"Even though there was nothing major from the [La Rochelle] game, bumps and bruises, you are trying to make an assessment on guys," Cullen (above) told RTÉ Sport.
"Dan Sheehan, he’s very close. We are going to have conversations after this weekend in terms of what Ireland want.
"We’ve a game next week and some of those guys who haven’t featured in this game will possibly feature.
"It depends on how individuals within the other teams have come through.
"[Tadhg] is in that conversation. He did well to get through the game. Tadhg is good to go. That will be a call that Ireland make.
"Dan Sheehan and James Lowe will go into that mix as well. What they want to do in terms of game time next week versus guys travelling.
"[It’s Ireland’s] call. We’ll see how the weekend plays out.
"There are a couple of guys who are not in our 23 who are in that group that were named to go to Portugal.
"Some of them will likely feature next week but that’s a conversation that will take place next week."
Meanwhile, Garry Ringrose is set for his first start on the wing since the 2015/16 season.
Hugo Keenan’s return to fitness sees a reconfiguration of the backline with the 29-year-old centre pushed out and Jordie Barrett and Robbie Henshaw named at 12 and 13, respectively.
"We talked to Garry at the start of the week to make sure he’s comfortable with it," added Cullen, whose side top the pool but need a five-point win to take a firm hold of a top-two seeding.
"We are still trying to figure out what’s the exact best, we finished the [La Rochelle] game with this combination.
"From a training point of view they have worked well this week. Between Jordie and Robbie, they bring great physical presence. Garry will bring physical presence off the wing as well.
"This is what we think is best for the group.
"Bath are a pretty physical team as well, we need to match some of the strengths they have."
The match, for which almost 40,000 tickets have been sold, is live on RTÉ2, RTÉ Player and RTÉ Radio 1.
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Watch Leinster v Bath (kick-off 5.30pm, Saturday) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player or follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport.
