IRELAND SECOND ROW Iain Henderson has been ruled out of Sunday’s Six Nations clash with Italy after testing positive for Covid-19.
The rest of the Ireland squad and management have tested negative and are continuing with their preparations for the Italy game, although they will undergo further testing in the coming days.
Henderson produced a positive result during testing when the squad gathered on Monday evening and that positive was confirmed by a follow-up test.
The IRFU says that the Ulster captain is well, has left camp, and will now complete his isolation period at home.
However, the positive test comes as a major frustration for Henderson, who only returned from injury off the Ireland bench against France two weekends ago in Paris. He would have hoped for a start against Italy this weekend in order to build match fitness.
The 30-year-old has had a frustrating season so far, playing just twice for his province. Henderson featured in Ireland’s three November Tests but suffered an ankle injury against Argentina.
He will hope to return to Ireland camp as soon as his isolation period is completed and feature in their closing two Six Nations games against England and Scotland next month.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell still has James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne, Ryan Baird, and Kieran Treadwell as second row options in his squad ahead of the Italy game and has not formally called up a replacement for Henderson.
