IRELAND WINGS MACK Hansen and James Lowe are “making good progress” with their injuries ahead of Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand in Paris.
Hansen picked up a calf issue during last weekend’s pool win over Scotland, while James Lowe was forced off with an eye injury, but this morning’s update on the wing duo was encouraging for Irish fans.
Meanwhile, second row James Ryan will see a specialist after suffering a wrist injury against Scotland, but Ireland say they have not ruled anyone out of the All Blacks clash at this stage.
Robbie Henshaw and Keith Earls, who have been dealing with hamstring injuries, could even come back into contention for the quarter-final after Ireland delivered a positive injury update.
“James Ryan is seeing a specialist and we’re hoping for better news than originally anticipated,” said Ireland team manager Mick Kearney in Paris.
“Mack Hansen took a bang to his calf but is improving. Both him and James Lowe are making good strides. Keith Earls and Robbie Henshaw are both in contention as they progress during the week.
“Apart from that, just some usual bumps and bruises after a physical Test match.”
While a specialist visit is usually not good news, Kearney said that Ireland remain optimistic about Ryan.
“We won’t have a definitive on James until after he sees the specialist but certainly there would be more optimism around James than probably what was originally anticipated.
“He’s seeing the specialist today so we should know more either later this evening, tomorrow morning, tomorrow afternoon, or whenever. Certainly, within the next 24 hours we should have a clearer picture of where James is at.”
And the Ireland team manager confirmed that there have been no call-ups to the squad at this point.
“No call-ups, no one added to the squad, and at this stage, no one ruled out for the match against New Zealand on Saturday night,” said Kearney.
