1
Mixed news for Ireland as Leinster count toll of Munster win
By Ian Cameron
There was mixed news on the injury front for Ireland and Leinster on Monday afternoon, with a medical update on several of the provinces' Test stars issued.
In good news, Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw is once again available for selection after he 'returned to training last week after a minor injury'.
However, there's less good news for a number of other Ireland players. The side confirmed that Ronan Kelleher "had a procedure on an ankle injury last week and will be unavailable for between four to six weeks."
This means, as was reported over the weekend, that he will not be available for Ireland Autumn Nations Series matches.
There's also bad news for Ireland No.8 Jack Conan, who left the field at Croke Park after just 19 minutes of action against Munster on Saturday evening. Conan "will be unavailable for selection this week after being withdrawn in the first half against Munster with a hamstring injury."
This casts doubt on whether he will be available for some or all of Ireland's November Tests, although the severity of the injury was not specified.
Fellow Ireland back-row Ryan Baird suffered a concussion and was removed after playing just two minutes against Munster off the pine. He will go through return-to-play protocols.
Second-row Joe McCarthy, who didn't feature against Munster, will "not be available for selection this week after picking up a hamstring injury in the Benetton Rugby game."
As with Conan, it's not clear how severe the lock's hamstring issue is and if it will effect his selection by Andy Farrell for next month's international series.
Lee Barron went off at half-time with an ankle injury and will be further assessed this week before a final decision is made on his availability. Jordan Larmour was unavailable for selection as a precaution and will also be assessed this week before a final decision is made, Leinster have said.
There were no further updates on injuries to Dan Sheehan, John McKee, Paddy McCarthy, Jimmy O’Brien and Tommy O’Brien.
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Glasgow coach jumps to defence of McDowall who faces possible huge ban
3
Stuart Lancaster 'wants out' of Racing 92 and eyeing Euro giants job
4
Henry Arundell lined up for early England homecoming
5
Latest Comments
I agree.
I’d like to know what constitutes a 208 week ban though?
Must the eyeball be dislodged? Hanging by a vein?
Go to commentsAlso a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.
I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.
I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.
Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.
“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”
Go to comments