Oh dear.
Ireland’s Six Nations campaign is going from bad to worse as Joe Schmidt received the full fallout from the battering in Paris on Saturday.
Sean O’Brien has suffered a grade 2 hamstring tear and while Schmidt would only go as far as to say that the flanker would miss the game in Twickenham on Saturday week, it is hard to see the Leinster man featuring again in this campaign.
His Leinster colleague Marty Moore suffered the same tear last month and was ruled out for the entire tournament.
And while hamstring injuries can differ from player-to-player, if Ireland were to lose against England it is hard to see O’Brien being brough back into the fold for what would be dead rubber fixtures against Scotland and Italy.
Mike McCarthy suffered a concussion in Paris and will follow return to play protocols. Schmidt also confirmed that McCarthy will see a specialist because of the nature of the impact.
Dave Kearney has an AC joint injury and, according to Schmidt, is “very likely” to miss the England game as a result of that.
Jared Payne suffered a grade 1 hamstring strain during the first half in Paris, but played through the pain.
“He certainly won’t train this week and we’ll have to just monitor him in the lead-up to the England game,” said Schmidt.
There was a marginally better news concerning Johnny Sexton who, Schmidt said, has a “whiplash injury” and his condition has improved in the 48 hours since Paris.
Schmidt also confirmed that Cian Healy and Mike Ross will train with Ireland this week before going back to play again for Leinster.
