Leinster’s Rob Kearney will be ready to answer Ireland call

Rob Kearney has given Ireland boss Declan Kidney a boost ahead of the autumn internationals, claiming he will be ready to face South Africa next month despite his lack of minutes on the pitch this season.

The Leinster full-back, 26, has played just 32 minutes of rugby this season due to a back injury, picked up in his first comeback game against Connacht.

Joe Schmidt had suggested Kearney, who featured in all five of Ireland’s Six Nations matches this season, may be available for one of Leinster’s Heineken Cup matches but he is still waiting for his second appearance of the season.

He will face a fitness test on Thursday to see if he can make his return this week against Cardiff Blues and will be more hopeful of making the visit to the Ospreys a week later.

But even if he does not feature in either of those matches, Kearney would have no qualms about turning out for Ireland against the Springboks on 10 November.

“In an ideal world, you would like to get a couple of games under your belt, but I’m not going to be too fazed by it,” Kearney told the Irish Independent.

“I came back into an international before the World Cup after being out for nine months and it went okay, so it is something I have done before.

“While ideally I’d be able to get a few games under my belt, if that’s not the case then we don’t live in a perfect world.”

© Sportsbeat 2012

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Read more on: Declan Kidney, ireland rugby, joe schmidt, leinster, Rob Kearney, Rugby union.