Ireland Issue Injury Update Ahead Of Italy Game
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Jared Payne is expected to start at fullback against Italy following an injury update from Ireland scrum coach Greg Feek.
Feek confirmed this afternoon that Rob Kearney sat out of training with a hamstring issue. He did not specify whether Kearney had tweaked the same hamstring that kept him out of the 16-16 draw with Wales.
Kearney injured his hamstring at the end of Ireland’s training session on Monday and, along with Eoin Reddan [calf], sat out today’s run. Feek said:
“We’ll wait until Thursday to reassess them. Because they’re backs we have to wait a bit longer as well.
“I haven’t had a chance to talk to the medics about Rob himself.
“It might have been (yesterday), near the end there. If you’ve got a niggle you might want to try and get it right and then get back. I think it’s just one of those things. I’m not sure if it’s the same one, so I don’t want to speculate on whether it’s been an ongoing issue or not.”
This paves the way for an Ireland backline that fans have been crying out for with Payne at fullback and Stuart McCloskey partnering Robbie Henshaw in the centre.
