Northampton Saints captain George Furbank will miss Saturday’s Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster.

He had recently returned from a broken arm suffered in December and even scored a try in the quarter-final win over Castres (51-16).

However, Furbank is still having problems with the metal plates in his arm and won’t be able to play in the big game in Dublin.

“George won’t be playing this weekend,” said Phil Dowson, the team’s rugby director.

“He’s still having trouble recovering from his broken arm. It’s hard for him to get back into full contact because he keeps getting hit, and the arm goes numb and hurts a lot. That’s pretty normal for an arm with a metal plate. He really wants to play, especially in such an important game, but it’s just too early.”

Dowson also said he’s not sure if Furbank will play again this season or be ready if the Lions pick him this summer.

“We’re taking it week by week,” Dowson added. “He’s a tough guy, but it’s clearly still very painful. We don’t want to risk making the injury worse.”

“We’re trying to be careful with the injury, but time is running out.

I think recovery time can vary, but it usually takes a while to heal. That part of the body doesn’t have much padding, so it’s painful when it’s hit or landed on in tackles.

I don’t know if he’ll be able to play. I’ve asked the physio many times—probably 485 times—and he keeps saying no. I’ll ask again next week.”

Saturday’s match is a rematch of last year’s semi-final, which Leinster won 20-17.