Leinster's Heineken Cup hopes suffered a setback when their Argentinian fly-half Felipe Contepomi was ruled out of action for six weeks.

Contepomi sustained a serious left knee injury in the Pumas' 27-26 defeat to France on Saturday.

The 29-year is expected to miss the Irish province's Pool 2 matches which are both against Agen.

The Leinster out-half topped the stats in the Heineken Cup last season as top points scorer, with 131 points, including 6 tries.

With 20 caps in the Heineken Cup, Contepomi's presence will sorely missed when Leinster take on French side Agen on 9 December in Landsdowne Road, with the return fixture taking place a week later.

Agen are currently top of the pool with second-placed Leinster three points behind.

Le Leinster a enregistré un coup dur en apprnant que son demi d'ouverture argentin, Felipe Contepomi, devra observer six semaines de convalescence.