Hamstring problem rules Lion out of Ireland’s game with Wales

Ireland second-row Iain Henderson has been ruled out of their Guinness Six Nations trip to Wales and skipper Caelan Doris is a major doubt for the Cardiff clash.

Henderson (hamstring) and fellow Ulster lock forward Cormac Izuchukwu (ankle) will both be absent on Saturday as Ireland seek to win the Triple Crown after victories over England and Scotland.

Doris is in a race against time to be fit after sustaining a knee injury against Scotland in Edinburgh.

“Gavin Coombes, John Hodnett, Diarmuid Mangan, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale and Nick Timoney have all been added to the squad, with Iain Henderson (hamstring) and Cormac Izuchukwu (ankle) unavailable due to injury,” said an Ireland squad update published on Sunday.

“The Ulster duo will remain with their province to recover and commence their rehabilitation programmes.

“The workloads of Caelan Doris (knee) and Ronan Kelleher (neck) are being managed this week.

“Tadhg Furlong is continuing to make progress and both Mack Hansen and Joe McCarthy are back training with the squad.”

Craig Casey will join the Ireland camp this week in his recovery from injury.

Interim head coach Simon Easterby will name his squad to play Wales on Thursday.