DONNACHA RYAN HAS been ruled out of Ireland’s friendly fixture against Fiji tomorrow.
The IRFU confirmed the Munster forward would miss the game at Thomond Park and have drafted in Mike McCarthy to take his place on the replacements bench.
An official team statement read, “Following the Ireland team’s Captain’s Run in Thomond Park Stadium this morning, it was confirmed that Donnacha Ryan has been ruled out of the game against Fiji tomorrow due to illness.”
McCarthy was named man-of-the-match in Ireland’s 16-12 loss to South Africa at the Aviva last weekend.
Speaking after that game, McCarthy told TheScore.ie, “I would have taken a bad performance myself if we had got the win. I thoroughly enjoyed it out there.
“(The award) was nice to get it but any of the forwards could have got it.”
The Connacht lock added, “International rugby is a step up from playing for your province in terms of the hits. [South Africa] are big, big fellas.”
The Fijians have a few bruisers of their own in their starting XV, notably Deacon Manu and Api Naikatini, but they are expected to take an expansive game to the Irish.
Dan Tuohy, who starts in the Irish second row alongside Donncha O’Callaghan, revealed earlier in the week that Irish players such as Craig Gilroy and Paddy Jackson had enjoyed their training experiences as ball-flinging Fijians for the day.
