Kidney will be without regular full-back Rob Kearney after he was ruled out for between three to five weeks with a knee injury sustained in their 33-10 defeat by France last Saturday.

The Leicester full-back has not featured for Ireland since making a substitute appearance in their Grand Slam securing win over Wales last March, but Kidney has refused to rule-out a recall.

He said: “We’ll definitely give Geordan a look and hopefully he will get a full game at the weekend.

“It was always our plan to bring him into training next week whether he had enough game time or not and you wouldn’t rule anyone out.”

The 31-year-old has had a frustrating season after being sidelined for several months with a dislocated shoulder suffered against Wasps in September.

But the former British Lion has come off the bench in recent weeks for the Tigers and looks to be in prime position to fill the void left by Kearney.