Ireland have moved swiftly to call for reinforcements.
After suffering a series of potentially devastating injuries during yesterday’s World Cup victory over France, the Irish management have made the first of what we suspect will be several moves to add new blood to Joe Schmidt’s 31-man squad.
The IRFU have confirmed that Leinster back row Rhys Ruddock will join up with the team in Cardiff today ahead of Ireland’s quarter-final against Argentina on Sunday.
Ruddock replaces Munster blindside Peter O’Mahony after a torn knee ligament in the midst of a titanic performance against the French ended his tournament .
It’s a case of better late than never for Ruddock, who missed out on contesting the original selection when a broken arm suffered when leading the Emerging Ireland side in June ruled him out of the warm-up matches.
Now fully recovered, he made his return for Leinster against the Dragons in the Pro12 nine days ago and his versatility could be useful with Sean O’Brien’s immediate future in doubt after cameras caught him appearing to punch French second row Pascal Pape yesterday.
With Paul O’Connell also set to be ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring strain and Jared Payne already at home with a broken foot, there are certain to be further replacements called in the coming days.
