Ireland and Harlequins star Keith Wood is set to return to action this weekend after an emotional week which saw his brither Gordon die and the birth of his first child Alex.

Hooker Wood withdrew from Ireland's clash with Romania last weekend following his bereavement but has opted to play for Quins in their Zurich Premiership clash with Leeds tomorrow.

"It has been a very strange few days and there was no way in the world I could have played for Ireland - it wouldn't have been right. I was in a total heap but now it's time to move things forward," Wood told the Evening Standard.

Wood's eldest brother died of a heart attack on Thursday, was cremated on Friday and then wife Nicola gave birth to Alex, 6lbs 12oz, on Saturday.

"There was an awful lot of grieving in Ireland before I came back to London and there will be more," added Wood.

"There have been sad moments this week, thinking about my brother, but also fantastic highs with my son and we have been unbelievably fortunate with his sleeping pattern-at the moment. I am very fortunate to come from a very sporting family and they take the view that I should be playing and so does Nicola.

"She wanted me to go training this week and, to be honest, early in the week I just trained and then left the ground because I didn't want to hang around too much. It's been tough and you cannot compartmentalise everything. It has to come down to me. It's up to me to make the call about playing and I am looking forward to taking the pitch against Leeds."

Mark Evans, the Quins coach and chief executive, commented, "It was totally up to Keith and he indicated very early in the week that he wanted to play and we're delighted to have him back. It has been an incredibly tough time for him with real highs and lows."

Wood will return to Ireland immediately after the match to spend time with his mother, brother John and four sisters.

He will then link up with the Ireland squad for their World Cup qualifying matches in Russia and then at home to Georgia a week later.