… Payne.
One man’s annoying injury is another man’s opportunity.
Jared Payne is set to start at fullback against Italy following an injury update from Ireland coach Greg Feek.
The New Zealander confirmed, this afternoon, that Rob Kearney sat out of training with a hamstring issue. The scrum coach 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.”
Feek says the likes of Payne and Robbie Henshaw, who often plays 15 for Connacht, have covered the position in training this week. Simon Zebo, who started against Wales, and Keith Earls are the other fullback options in the squad.
Given that Joe Schmidt has, so far this championship, erred on the side of caution with players less than 100%, Kearney is set to miss Saturday’s game.
We attempted to tie Payne down this afternoon but with little joy:
"If you pay me enough I'll tell you." @thepain15 keeps us guessing on his selection for @IrishRugby v @Federugby. pic.twitter.com/7wnIX646Ln
— Ross Lindsay (@Ross_A_Lindsay) March 8, 2016
Skillfully handled!
