There was news of one new arrival in the Ireland camp today, unfortunately it was not tighthead Mike Ross.
Instead Johnny Sexton was celebrating the birth on Monday of a daughter, Amy, with assistant coach Richie Murphy saying the fly-half was back in Carton House Tuesday morning sporting a big smile, despite a sore shoulder.
Sexton’s injury is not a concern, in fact the only fresh injury emerging from Sunday’s draw with Wales would appear to be Keith Earls, who is almost certain to miss the trip to Paris as he follows return to play protocols following a concussion suffered on Sunday.
However Rob Kearney remains a doubt after taking a limited role in training today.
“Tommy O’Donnell has completed his HIA; he trained today fully,” said Murphy. “Sean O’Brien trained today fully. Rob Kearney took a part in training today and is being assessed by the medical team. He should train fully on Thursday. Today he got through a volume of work and will be ready to go on Thursday.
“Andrew Trimble (shoulder), Simon Zebo (Knee) and Johnny Sexton (shoulder) all sat out training but are expected to train on Thursday.”
The Ulster contingent – Rob Herring, Paddy Jackson, Stuart McCloskey – all returned from PRO12 duty unscathed, while Fergus McFadden has joined the squad as cover for Earls.
However Ross, who is returning from a hamstring injury, and loosehead Cian Healy (knee) are to remain with Leinster, where it is anticipated they will gain valuable game time against Zebre in Friday’s PRO12 clash at the RDS.
Neither man has played since December but with the Irish scrum coughing up four penalties in the first half against Wales (including three in the run-up to Toby Faletau’s try) there seemed logic in fast-tracking Ross, in particular, back into the team.
If he is fit enough for the province then surely the cornerstone of Ireland’s scrum could do a job against France. However it looks like Schmidt will show faith in Nathan White or Tadhg Furlong to start at tighthead in Paris.
“Mike Ross and Cian Healy are still with Leinster and seem to be progressing well,” said Murphy. “I think both of them are available for their game (against Zebre) on Friday night. They are not in the Ireland squad at the moment.”
Ross could still be a late call-up but it would seem unlikely Schmidt would pit him against Eddy Ben Arous after a single training session with the Ireland squad.
