THE BLOWS CAME swift and heavy – Zebo gone for 10 weeks and Sexton and McCarthy definitely out for the Scotland trip – but the news was not all grim.
The Leinster trio of Rob Kearney [dead leg], Sean O’Brien [hamstring] and Brian O’Driscoll [ankle] are all on track for the game in Murrayfield on Sunday week.
Following on from the mind-melting Cian Healy ban fiasco, Sean O’Brien, Rory Best and Mike Ross entered the drawing room at Dunboyne Castle and sought to convince us that one injured swallow does not make a bummer.
Injuries and suspensions may lead to perhaps five changes, from the England defeat, in Ireland’s starting XV next weekend but a win over Scotland, O’Brien declared, is the best tonic for all involved.
He told TheScore.ie, “[The championship] is and it isn’t out of our own hands, do you know what I mean?
“If we leave ourselves in the best possible shape; I still think there is going to be a slip-up somewhere for the other teams along the line.
“Anyone can beat anyone on any day. If we leave ourselves in the best possible position we can do no more after that.”
Basic errors
It was perhaps no coincidence that Ireland brought out O’Brien, Best and Ross for today’s briefings. The three men had decent outings at the weekend and were not afflicted with the compulsion to spill balls to the turf.
O’Brien said, “Our errors, as a team and as individuals, stand out from the [England] game. They cost us.
A few of them happened within minutes of each other and put us under a bit of pressure and they kicked a couple of scores from that.”
Looking ahead to the tricky tie in Murrayfield, the flanker notes how the Scots ‘put it up to the Italians physically’ and believes they will have their tails up.
Irish morale, he insists, is not as low as some may imagine despite the injury setbacks.
O’Brien added, “There’s other quality players there to step in… Dave Kilcoyne, for example, has been one of the best players from the four provinces this year.”
