Ireland hit with yet another major blow as injury crisis continues to worsen
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Major doubt.
Andy Farrell looks set to be without another one of his key players for their Six Nations opener as Ireland’s injury crisis continues to get worse.
Tadhg Furlong is the latest name to emerge as a major doubt for next week’s showdown in Paris. The veteran tighthead did not take part in training fully this week as he continues to nurse a calf injury.
Ireland attack coach Andrew Goodman says they are being super cautious with Furlong before they assess his status for the game next week.
“He was doing some rehab, and he’s going through his process. He’ll be assessed going through Test week next week, so not ruled out, going through his return to play protocols,” Goodman said.
“We’re being really cautious with him now, so we can give him the best chance next week. He’ll be doing his rehab with the physios on the side, and then we’ll assess him at the start of the Test week.
“He’s been pretty robust through training with Leinster and had a good plan around his training and different little bits like that. I think it was the other side [of the calf] actually, so we’ll make sure we get it right, and hopefully that won’t happen, recurring injuries.”
Elsewhere, Hugo Keenan is back in Dublin and is awaiting an update from the surgeon after he broke his thumb in training.
“We’re waiting for an opinion from him (the surgeon),” Goodman added.
“For that amount of time out of the game, six months or whatever he’s been out with his hip – he came back so excited to get back into representing his country, and he was training sharply, he’d done his clarity walkthrough,s and he’s great for the squad, he builds so much belief.
“He’s a guy that people can depend on. He’s consistent as a player, he’s a great lad off the field, so it was great to see him back smiling on the rugby field and it was just such a nasty incident in a non-contact drill. It’s just one of those things that happens sometimes.”
Ireland are already without the likes of Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw, Ryan Baird, Paddy McCarthy, Andrew Porter, and Mack Hansen.
