Having initially been part of a pre-season training camp in Jersey to provide cover for hookers Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie – both of whom had club commitments to contend with – Kelleher was officially added to the Lions set-up for their 2021 Tour of South Africa on July 14 of that year.

Yet that Tour (on which Kelleher didn’t see any game time) was played in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and a number of restrictions were imposed as a result – including the complete absence of spectators for their three Test matches against the Springboks. Although he still made the very most of his time in the squad, Kelleher is looking forward to sampling the full Lions experience in Australia.

“There was no fans, so it was a very different tour. That kind of had its pros and cons. A pro was probably that you got to know everyone pretty well, because you kind of had to. You were obviously in each other’s space 24/7.

“I was out there for, whatever it was, four weeks plus the Jersey training camp,” Kelleher recalled.

“In that regard it was good because you got to know everyone, but it wasn’t really touring. I think it’s going to be an unbelievable experience. People who have talked to us, who have been on previous Lions tours, have said it has been brilliant. Some of the highlights of their lives. Please God, all going well, it will be a good tour.”

After playing some part in the past three deciders, Kelleher found himself in the unusual position of being idle when Bordeaux Begles and Northampton Saints faced off in the latest European Champions Cup final at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff last Saturday.

Although he was clearly disappointed that a last-four defeat at the hands of Northampton denied Leinster a spot in this season’s showpiece, there was one man Kelleher was pleased for on the weekend just gone.

Bordeaux’s attack specialist, Noel McNamara, was head coach of the Ireland U-20s when Kelleher featured for them in 2018 and the former St Michael’s College student was effusive in his praise of the Clare native.

“A legend. He has obviously done a great job, he’s a great fella. I’m happy for him. As disappointed as I am it wasn’t us, you’re glad when it is one of your own gets a chance.

“I’m absolutely delighted for Noel and he has obviously done a fantastic job, even going off to the Sharks before that. He obviously did a great job with them as well. He’s brilliant.”

Whereas McNamara and Bordeaux will be hoping to follow up their Champions Cup triumph by getting their hands on the Top 14 trophy in France, Kelleher and Leinster are aiming to achieve their own success in the United Rugby Championship in the coming weeks.

The first obstacle the eastern province have to overcome in their bid for URC glory is a quarter-final tie against Scarlets at the Aviva Stadium tomorrow afternoon (kick-off 3pm).

Kelleher was in the starting line-up when Leinster lost to the Welsh region in a regular season game at Parc y Scarlets on April 26 and even though the Blues weren’t at full strength on that occasion, Kelleher is expecting a similar challenge from the Llanelli-based outfit in their latest duel.

“Obviously off the back of it they got into the play-offs and I thought they were really good on the day. I thought we obviously were poor in parts as well, but we obviously know how much of a threat that they can cause. Having played in it, you obviously get it first hand,” Kelleher added.

Despite Lowe crossing the whitewash during a frantic final quarter, Leinster suffered an agonising defeat to Northampton at the penultimate stage of Europe’s top tier in the Aviva Stadium on May 3.

Although a trip to the zoo with his young family last Saturday morning also played its part, the Ireland international also acknowledged it was a somewhat conscious choice not to view a Champions Cup decider that didn’t feature the eastern province for the first time since 2021.

“I’ve got enough pain in my life with kids, I don’t think I need to force anymore!

“You can say it’s better, but I just didn’t want to watch the game. It’s not that I don’t respect the two teams.

“It just sucks because I wanted to be there. It is what it is. A lot of boys are the same. Some boys could watch it. Some boys watch the replay,” Lowe explained at a Leinster media briefing.

“I didn’t know how big the zoo was. We took one pram, we’ve got two kids.

“That’s what I did for the morning and then the afternoon I’m literally entertaining him.

“I knew it was on. I was paying attention on my phone, just watching on the app.

“Fair play to Bordeaux, congratulations and commiserations to Saints. They have both been exceptional this year.

“It sucked this year that we weren’t there, but that’s how it happened.”

Last Sunday week, Lowe undertook his first official duties as a British & Irish Lion at an admin day in London.

This offered him a taste of what to expect when he jets off next month with the rest of the Lions squad for their tour of Australia, but for now the New Zealand-born star is firmly focused on ending the 2024/25 season with Leinster on a high.

Although he was quick to point out to that the province has just won the Irish Shield for a fourth time in succession – after registering six wins from six against their interprovincial rivals in the United Rugby Championship regular season – the past three years have seen Leinster missing out on major silverware in the Champions Cup and the URC.

While their latest quest to claim a fifth European star was halted by the aforementioned Northampton, there is still a chance for Leo Cullen’s men to secure top honours in the URC.

Three semi-final reversals on the bounce in the competition means Leinster are likely to face a mental challenge as well as a physical one in the coming weeks, but they will have to negotiate their way past Scarlets in a quarter-final at the Aviva this Saturday (kick-off 3pm) before they can even think about finally achieving a last-four league victory.

Yet their ultimate ambition is to lift the URC crown next month and Lowe believes this would be a fitting way for departing players such as Ross Byrne and the soon-to-be-retired Cian Healy to end their time with Leinster.

“When I look around the changing room and the people who aren’t going to be here next year, the two you obviously think of are Ross Byrne and Cian Healy.

“Some of the best days of your life are when you win silverware together.

“For Ireland we have been able to do that in recent years, but we haven’t been able to transfer that with Leinster.

“We can’t let Cian Healy leave Leinster without another silver medal around his neck again. It’s not doing him justice. It’s not doing Ross Byrne justice.

“Those boys watched Leinster at Donnybrook years and years ago.

“That’s hopefully the plan for the next three weeks.”

Having previously lost just one game from 15 in the URC – a last-gasp defeat against the Bulls in Pretoria – the eastern province suffered a 35-22 reversal at the hands of Scarlets in Llanelli on April 26.

It should be noted that a number of Leinster’s key players were rested for the game ahead of their shock European Champions Cup semi-final exit to Northampton Saints seven days later. Leinster assistant coach Robin McBryde is nevertheless anticipating another tough battle when the Blues face Scarlets in the last eight of the URC at Irish Rugby HQ this weekend.

“In fairness to them they’re a cohesive bunch. They’re obviously tight as a unit, tight as a team. It’s a test that we failed a couple of weeks ago. First against the Scarlets and against Northampton. It will be a good test for us on Saturday,” McBryde remarked at a Leinster media briefing in UCD yesterday.

“It is great from a Welsh perspective to see a Welsh team making it through to the quarter-final. It’s been a tough season for everybody in Wales. From their perspective, it’s great.”

Although Wales finishing bottom with no wins to their name for a second successive Six Nations Championship forms a significant part of the ‘tough season’ that McBryde alludes to, the issues around Welsh rugby aren’t merely confined to the field of play.

After deciding against joining Cardiff and Dragons in signing up to the new Professional Rugby Agreement by the deadline of May 8 until they received further clarity from the Welsh Rugby Union, Scarlets and Ospreys subsequently accused the WRU of a u-turn when the governing body announced it was to move away from a model of four evenly funded professional sides.

This is something that will undoubtedly concern former Wales hooker and assistant coach McBryde, though he admitted being based in Ireland meant he was somewhat out of the loop when it comes to the running of Welsh rugby on a grander scale.

“I pretty much live under a rock, to be honest with you. I don’t read anything, it’s only the odd conversation I might have with a couple of people involved at various levels. That’s about it. I wouldn’t have enough knowledge or enough of anything to give you an informed opinion.”

While Scarlets will be hoping to boost the spirits of Welsh rugby this weekend, McBryde is aiming to do all he can to ensure Leinster finish the current season as the URC’s undisputed top team.

The eastern province will take to the field on Saturday without the services of Tadhg Furlong and Robbie Henshaw – who are currently sidelined with respective calf and knee issues.

Yet Furlong’s injury is only a minor one and while Henshaw will miss out on the remainder of their campaign, McBryde acknowledged this opens the door for other players to leave their mark on the business end of the URC.

“To lose someone like Robbie is not ideal, but it gives someone else an opportunity to step up. It is not just the playing, but the training against quality opposition as well,” McBryde added.

After being troubled by a calf injury for a number of weeks, Furlong was restricted to a solitary outing for Ireland in the 2025 edition of the Six Nations Championship – as a 47th minute replacement in a final round victory away to Italy on March 15.

He subsequently made four appearances for Leinster across the URC and the European Champions Cup, before being selected by Lions head coach Andy Farrell for the forthcoming Tour of Australia earlier this month.

Yet despite being named on the bench for Leinster’s most recent competitive fixture against Glasgow Warriors in the URC at the Aviva on May 17, he remained in reserve for the duration of the contest and it was revealed in a squad bulletin earlier today that he will miss the visit of Scarlets to south Dublin this weekend with another calf issue.

However, Furlong’s latest injury is a minor one and it also isn’t the same calf that was causing him trouble back in the spring. It is entirely possible the Wexford native could line out for Leinster again in the current term – provided they overcome the challenge of Scarlets this weekend – and he also remains in line to feature on his third consecutive Lions Tour.

Meanwhile, having suffered a knee injury in the aforementioned clash with Glasgow last Saturday week, Leinster’s international centre Robbie Henshaw has been ruled out for the next three or four weeks and will therefore be missing for the remainder of the province’s season. Yet he is expected to be back running towards the end of this period and in addition to remaining in the frame for Ireland’s summer tests against Georgia and Portugal, he is still considered to be a standby option for the Lions tour.

In better news for Leinster, Jordan Larmour is expected to step up the final stages of his rehabilitation from a hamstring injury he picked up in early January and a final decision will be made on his availability for the Scarlets game later on in the week.