JUST AS LEINSTER had feared, their international scrum-half Isaac Boss has suffered an elbow ligament injury which will keep him out until November.
On Monday, forwards coach Jono Gibbes had intimated that his compatriot would be forced onto the sidelines, but the medical team had not yet received the results of the scan.
Today, head coach Joe Schmidt, speaking at the announcement of Leinster’s sponsorship agreement with the Conrad Hotel in Dublin, confirmed that Boss would require at least six weeks to heal.
“The Scarlets result wasn’t great for us on the scoreboard,” said Schmidt, “but it was probably even more damaging on the injury front. Unfortunately, we’ve got Isaac Boss with a medial ligament tear in his elbow and he will be out for six to eight weeks.”
The time-frame makes Boss a major doubt to play a part in Ireland’s November tests against South Africa and Argentina.
Declan Kidney’s side will face the Springboks on November 10, just over a week after the Kiwi’s likely return date. With Leinster shorn of a host of injured players on top of the absence of international due to the IRFU’s player management policy, news on the injury front was worsened by the knock to Dominic Ryan.
Ryan, who is a regular fixture in the Leinster back row, left Parc y Scarlets in the second half of the trouncing to Llanelli with what has today been revealed by Schmidt as:
“A ligament rupture. Just in the front of his ankle. The rear ligament is still in tact – which is a good sign – but he’s still going to be 10, maybe 12 weeks out of the game which I think is really disappointing for Leinster.
Resources
“Particularly in the light of Sean O’Brien being unavailable long-term (along with) Kevin McLaughlin and Jamie Heaslip being unavailable this weekend. Losing Dominic aswell puts pressure on our resources.”
Both Ryan and Boss will now certainly miss the beginning of the eastern province’s defence of the Heineken Cup on October 13. However, if the initial prognoses are correct, both could be back in consideration for round three and four of the group stages when Leinster clash with the familiar faces of Clermont Auvergne in back-to-back December fixtures.
