While Payne continues his recovery, there was some brighter news from Leinster on the Ireland front with their Test quartet of Joey Carbery, Dave Kearney, Mike Ross and Fergus McFadden all declared available for selection.
All four are expected to feature in Leinster’s PRO12 game against Treviso on Sunday, but although fly-half Carbery is the most likely to stake a claim for the latter stages of the Six Nations, Leinster backs coach Girvan Dempsey is adamant that his focus is on returning to the Blues’ squad.
“Joey is just back into the fold, and is going really, really well. He has started training back, and is looking in good shape. Just wants to get back on the field. He realises that his first stepping stone is to try and get into the Leinster squad, get game-time under his belt, and worry about higher honours further down the line,” Dempsey said yesterday.