From bad to worse.
Jack Conan’s World Cup has lasted just 54 minutes.
The Leinster forward has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament after he fractured his foot, in camp, on Thursday.
Conan had been in line to start at No.8 for this weekend’s game against Japan but the foot injury left him ruled out. It meant Joe Schmidt had to play Peter O’Mahony just six days after he failed a Head Injury Assessment in the Scotland game, with CJ Stander being asked to take the 8 jersey, instead of the blindside role he was set for.
Schmidt played down the injury at the time but, following Ireland’s 19-12 loss to Japan, confirmed that Conan’s tournament was over. He told reporters:
“Jack Conan has a fracture in his foot and will return home to Ireland tomorrow.”
The IRFU then followed up on those comments with this:
Bad News for us as @JackConan1 has a fracture in his foot and will return home to Ireland tomorrow. No news yet on a replacement. A huge thank you to Jack for being such a great member of the squad. #TeamOfUs #ShoulderToShoulder pic.twitter.com/SMb1tlSq3S
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) September 28, 2019
Ulster back row Jordi Murphy was pulled from their matchday squad for the Guinness PRO14 game against Ospreys, on Friday, and he will fly over to replace his former Leinster teammate.
Schmidt also confirmed that Rob Kearney had failed a HIA in the defeat to Japan, which would rule him out of the Russia game on Thursday.
