JORDI MURPHY’S FIRST appearance at the 2019 Rugby World Cup lasted only 27 minutes after he was forced off with what appeared to be a rib problem against Russia.
Murphy, who only arrived in Japan on Sunday having being called up to replace the injured Jack Conan, was fast-tracked into the Ireland back-row for today’s Pool A game in Kobe.
Yet he lasted less than half an hour before sustaining the injury, with CJ Stander coming in for Murphy off the bench.
Murphy appeared to pick up the problem after taking contact in a maul, and while the Ulster player tried to play through the pain he was shortly withdrawn.
Joe Schmidt will hope the problem isn’t serious, with Ireland’s back-row options already looking thin ahead of the meeting with Samoa on Saturday week.
Ireland are expected to provide an update on Murphy after the game.