IRELAND WILL ANXIOUSLY wait to discover the full extent of Joey Carbery’s ankle injury, but the Munster out-half did not suffer a fracture in the first of the World Cup warm-up games.
The sight of Carbery being carted off at the start of the second half sucked the air out of Ireland’s five-try victory over Italy at the Aviva Stadium, but Joe Schmidt is hopeful the injury will not rule the 23-year-old out of the tournament.
Carbery was a class above during the first half against Conor O’Shea’s side, embellishing a near faultless display with a first international try, but there was immediate concern after he was caught awkwardly under a heap of bodies in the 49th minute.
Although he was not able to put weight on the ankle and required to be carted off, an initial x-ray confirmed Carbery had not sustained a fracture and the medical team will wait for the swelling to go down before delivering an exact diagnosis.
“The good news is there is no fracture,” Schmidt said in his post-match press conference.
“It’s a bit puffy on the left side of his ankle. We have to give it 24/48 hours to let the swelling go down and get it scanned.
If we don’t think it’s too bad he’ll rehab in Portugal ahead of the England game. If not England, hopefully Wales. It’s too soon to say (for sure), but I don’t think it’ll keep him out of the World Cup.
Meanwhile, Rob Herring suffered a back spasm before being withdrawn in the 19th minute, while Devin Toner rolled his ankle having come back onto the pitch for Jean Kleyn as a blood sub.
“We don’t have anyone else, whose of major concern,” the head coach continued. “First game of the season, there are a few lung injuries, guys who couldn’t get enough oxygen in.
“Toner just rolled it (ankle). The more he was on it, the more he was walking it off. Certainly, in the changing room now, he’s walking around without a limp. I would predict that he would be fine.”
Schmidt also confirmed his decision to replace Jack McGrath with John Ryan at half-time was a tactical substitution.
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!