O’Driscoll boost for Ireland

Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll looks set to be ready for the Six Nations after returning to training at Leinster following ankle surgery.

O'Driscoll, who missed Ireland’s end-of-year Tests, returned to training for the first time since his operation on Tuesday and is on track to lead Ireland in their Six Nations opener against defending champions Wales on February 2.

O'Driscoll's Ireland and Leinster team mates Rob Kearney and Luke Fitzgerald are also on the comeback trial after missing the November internationals with a back and neck injury respectively.  

"Brian is out there for his first on-field session and Rob Kearney is due out on the pitch next week," Leinster coach Joe Schmidt told the Irish Independent.

"Luke is back on the pitch a while and we're looking at either the home game against Connacht at the RDS [Royal Dublin Showgrounds] on December 29 or for the Edinburgh match away at Murrayfield the following week.