IRELAND HAVE BEEN dealt a major injury blow ahead of Saturday’s clash against the All Blacks with the news Robbie Henshaw has been ruled out of the remainder of the November series.
Conor Murray, meanwhile, won’t link up with the national squad at Carton House this week, with the IRFU definitively ending talk of the scrum-half making a miraculous comeback from his neck injury against the world champions.
While it was always unlikely Murray would come back into the equation for this weekend’s showdown at the Aviva Stadium [KO 7pm, RTÉ 2/Channel 4], the loss of Henshaw is a significant blow.
The Leinster centre pulled up with a tight hamstring in the warmup ahead of Saturday’s win over Argentina, and despite Joe Schmidt allaying fears over his fitness in the post-match press conference, Henshaw will miss the games against New Zealand and USA.
Henshaw’s injury places even greater importance on the fitness of Garry Ringrose, who sat out Saturday’s Test against the Pumas with a hip knock sustained in Chicago but is due to return to full training tomorrow.
Will Addison, who was impressive on the occasion of his first start after being a late call-up for Henshaw, could also been in the frame to partner Bundee Aki in midfield again.
Murray’s confirmed absence, meanwhile, ends the speculation over whether he’ll play on Saturday or not, after Steve Hansen yesterday insisted he believed the Munster nine would start.
“Robbie Henshaw’s hamstring issue, which saw him replaced by Will Addision just prior to kick-off on Saturday, will rule him out of the remainder of the Guinness Series,” a brief IRFU injury update said.
“Ireland scrum-half Conor Murray is accelerating through his recovery but will not join the squad during the Guinness Series window.”
In addition, there are a number of players being managed at Carton House today but are expected to train fully on Tuesday and Thursday.
Henshaw and Murray join Sean O’Brien on the injured list, after the flanker suffered a broken arm at the weekend.
There was no update on the fitness of Kieran Marmion and Bundee Aki, who both rolled their ankle in the second half of the 28-17 win.
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