The Leinster trio of Noel Reid, Richardt Strauss and Tom Denton have all been ruled out of Friday's Guinness Pro 12 encounter with Zebre at the RDS due to concussion.

The players all suffered head injuries during last Sunday’s home defeat to the Dragons – in Strauss’s case a double impact – and the five-day turnaround means there is not enough time to go through the full return to play protocols.

International scrumhalf Eoin Reddan has recovered from the medial knee injury picked up in the Champions Cup game against Wasps and has trained as normal and, while South African international Zane Kirchner has recovered fully from the leg injury that has kept him out of action since early January. Centre Gordon D'Arcy also trained today and is available for selection.

Kieran Marmion has been ruled out of Connacht's trip to play the Dragons on Sunday after picking up a grade one AC joint sprain during the opening half of last Sunday's defeat to the Scarlets.The scrumhalf is expected to return to play next week.

Outhalf Craig Ronaldson has returned to full training following the quad injury he sustained in the warm-up prior to the Challenge Cup game against Exeter in January and is available for selection.