Ireland full-back Keenan targets January return

Hugo Keenan, a full-back, has a hip injury that has prevented him from playing for Ireland in the Six Nations.

Keenan hasn’t played since the British and Irish Lions won the summer tournament in Australia.

The 29-year-old had preplanned hip surgery shortly after returning home, but the decisive try was the decisive try in the second Test to win the series.

He was excluded from Ireland’s autumn internationals because of that, but he will make a return to Leinster in the new year before Andy Farrell’s side face France in their opening match of the year on February 5.

When you’ve been using crutches for four or five weeks, you’re quickly brought back to life,” Keenen said on the BBC Sounds podcast’s Rugby Union Weekly.

You must “get it right,” not rush it. I’m moving and running again in January, and I’m hoping to return.

Keenan said that the decisive try in Australia was “the stuff you dream of,” despite having been sidelined since the Lions.

“That entire Lions tour was insane,” he said. He cited his own injury, his illness, and his reputation as the luckiest player on the team because everyone got hurt.

“Sometimes, it’s funny how the world works.”

Leinster, reigning champions, have had a difficult start to the United Rugby Championship, winning three of their six matches.

Ireland lost to New Zealand and South Africa in November after winning back-to-back Six Nations titles.

Keenan claims that the current state of affairs with both the province and the nation is unrequited.

“The past few years haven’t been perfect,” I say. You can’t win all of Leinster and Ireland, he said, despite the fact that we’ve had good years.