BLINDSIDE FLANKER PETER O’Mahony missed training yesterday at Carton House but Ireland say the Munster man will be available for selection for Saturday’s Grand Slam shot against England at Twickenham.
O’Mahony received treatment on the pitch in the 42nd minute of Ireland’s win over Scotland last weekend, after tracking back to make a tackle on Blair Kinghorn and winning a turnover penalty.
O’Mahony played on until the 55th minute, jogging off the pitch as Jordi Murphy replaced him.
The fact that the 28-year-old did not take part in yesterday’s all-important squad training session at Carton House was cause for concern and would suggest O’Mahony is a doubt for this weekend, but Ireland insist the experienced back row will be fine to face England.
“Peter’s okay,” said assistant coach Richie Murphy. “He was managed again today. He was managed as well but everyone that played in the game on Saturday [against Scotland] will be fit and ready to play on Saturday [against England].”
The hope for Schmidt is that he will be able to field a very settled team against the English this weekend.
Fullback Rob Kearney also sat out yesterday’s training session with an ankle issue, but Murphy stated that he too will be “perfectly fine” to take on the English.
Cian Healy trained fully after recovering from his “stinger-like issue,” while Johnny Sexton trained fully after a glute problem limited his training load in the build-up to the Scotland game.
Usually, Schmidt and his coaches have a strong preference for the weekend’s starting team to take a full part in the Tuesday squad pitch session, but with a Grand Slam on the line this weekend at the end of a tough championship, there are likely to be concessions made for players as important as O’Mahony and Kearney.
