IRELAND CENTRE GARRY Ringrose has suffered a broken jaw during his side’s 50-17 win over Italy.
The Leinster man will now miss next weekend’s trip to Paris, where a bonus-point win over France would secure the Six Nations title for Ireland.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell said Ringrose could be sidelined four to six weeks, potentially meaning he will also miss the Autumn Nations Cup too.
Ringrose suffered the injury in the first half of the victory against Italy in Dublin and was replaced by Robbie Henshaw.
Ireland boss Andy Farrell seems likely to pick Henshaw in the number 13 shirt against France if Ringrose’s injury is as bad as feared, although Munster man Chris Farrell is another option at outside centre.
“Garry Ringrose has broken his jaw so bad news for us all,” said Farrell post-match. “He’s been so good for us the last 10 days, he has been absolutely fantastic with his leadership and he was a big part of the reason why we got what we wanted out of today.
“He was unfortunate with his thumb injury earlier in the Six Nations and he has come back and had a setback like that which will keep him out for four to six weeks so we’re gutted for Garry.”
Ireland appeared to come through without any other injury problems, while captain Johnny Sexton revealed post-match that Munster wing Keith Earls returned from injury join Ireland training during the week.
Farrell will be happy to have the experienced Earls back in the mix and the 33-year-old was with Ireland at the Aviva Stadium today.
Overall, Farrell was pleased with a seven-try win that leaves his side in the hunt for a Six Nations title next weekend in Paris.
“You don’t plan for your nine [Conor Murray] getting sin-binned either so we struggled to get into the start of the game as well,” said Farrell.
“The game never goes according to plan. You’ve always got to be patient, you can’t just expect to flow in the second half, it’s never like that.
“I love the fact that we were patient and we still went after them defensively and created our own luck in the end.”