TIERNAN O’HALLORAN’S LINGERING hopes of getting a late call-up for his first taste of the Six Nations look to be over after suffering hamstring injury which will sideline him for a number of weeks.
The 26-year old doubled his Irish caps to six when he played in all three games on the summer tour to the USA and Japan but he didn’t make the cut for the November series.
And any hope of being drafted in for an injured player in the remaining Six Nations games look dim after he suffered a hamstring injury in Connacht’s 26-15 win over Ospreys at the weekend.
Indeed, the full-back is now in race to be fit for Connacht’s Challenge Cup quarter-final clash at home to Gloucester next month.
He was hauled off after just eight minutes of Connacht’s 26-15 PRO14 victory over Ospreys at the Sportsground last Friday night.
O’Halloran had scored 31 tries in 144 appearances for his native province but could now be in a race against time to feature in Connacht’s March 31 meeting with the Aviva Premiership side.
Defence coach Pete Wilkins said that it remains to be seen how long the Clifden native will be sidelined.
“In the passage of play where he chased down the far sideline he felt a little pop in the hamstring. We brought him off straight away and he received treatment for that,” said Wilkins.
“He will be a few weeks but Tiernan is desperate to get back out there as quickly as possible. We will get him through this initial period of rehab and then make a clearer assessment on when he might be available.
“It’s always a blow because he is a quality player. But we are happy with the depth that we have got in that area as well.
“It’s exciting to know that Gloucester game is in on the horizon but in terms of Tiernan’s injury, it depends how he responds in this first week or two and we will see.”
Andrew Browne’s shoulder injury did not require surgery and the 30-year-old second row could be available in a month’s time after he also left the field injured against Ospreys.
Back row Sean O’Brien is back training for the last two weeks and is available for selection when former coach Michael Bradley returns to the Sportsground on Friday night.
Niyi Adeolokun is also back in training, while Connacht have also been boosted by the return of some of their Ireland Six Nations contingent.
Scrum-half Kieran Marmion and lock Quinn Roux could both feature in Friday’s PRO14 fixture.
“There will be some of them that Joe Schmidt will be happy to see get some game time and there will be others he wants to wrap in cotton wool,” said Wilkins.
“Kieran and Quinn have been training with Ireland. They were down here yesterday (MON), and Quinn is back up there today.
“To be confirmed, in terms of what their involvement will be, but there will be a good chance of at least a couple of them getting some game time with us.”
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