RORY BEST’S RETURN to action has been delayed another month at least after the Ireland captain tore his hamstring in training last week.
The hooker was pictured ahead of Ulster’s victory over Scarlets on Friday night on crutches and the province have this evening confirmed he will be out for four to six weeks.
Best, who was expected to return following an extended summer break in the next two weeks, is now a serious doubt for the November internationals against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina.
He will also miss Ulster’s first two Champions Cup pool games against Wasps and La Rochelle and joins an ever-lengthening injury list at Kingspan Stadium, with Marcell Coetzee, Charles Piutau, Craig Gilroy and Jean Deysel all sidelined.
While the initial prognosis suggests Best could conceivably recover to figure for Joe Schmidt’s side, he faces a race against time to build up the necessary match fitness and sharpness having not played since the Lions’ game against the Hurricanes on 27 June.
Should Best be unavailable for the Autumn Test matches, Schmidt will have to look at alternative options for both the captaincy and number two jersey.
Munster’s Peter O’Mahony would be one of the leading candidates to skipper Ireland, while Leinster duo Sean Cronin and James Tracy as well as Munster’s Niall Scannell and Dave Heffernan of Connacht would all come into the reckoning at hooker.
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Hope they took dental impressions from his shoulder in hospital. Drag in all the Dublin players to look at their choppers.
Guilty player should receive a lengthy ban and criminal prosecution.
From a dub.
There can be an awful Whif of sheep of them Donegal heads,poor lad was probably just a bit peckish!
Disgraceful incident if that’s what happened and has absolutely no place on the football pitch or anywhere in civilised society! However, it is not the first time I’ve heard of this type of assault in inter county football.
Sounds like sour grapes to me. Donegal are just a bunch of whingers.
Sure why would they have sour grapes. Isn’t relegation all part of McGuinness’s master plan. What a load of bullshit.
Agreed – sure he said all along that staying up isn’t a priority.
McGuinness’s master plan? Now you’re talking bullshit!
It seems one if the two replying is confused. I was saying that mcguinness is the bullshitter.
Apologies Luca
Theyve been beaten before and never came out with something like this so why would they do it now?
I seriously doubt a team would go public with something like that unless they were certain there was intent there.
Dont try and deflect away from the incident lads.
IF it has happened, and i say IF, would you condone the action of biting on the football field?
Why would they pick a fight with a team that has a huge media backing especially when it will be difficult to prove. There was time to contemplate this too so I doubt it is an impulse reaction to the result.
Huge media support??? The Donegal Democrat never gives the Dubs a fair crack of the whip…
Well pardon the lad then so for bringing it to the attention of the medical staff that this happened, this did happen and for someone to say its a case of winging is bull! As I said in another post if it was the other way around it would not take two days to get into the national media the culprit should get a lengthy ban nasty thing to do.
http://www.thescore.ie/dublin-jason-whelan-ban-1277911-Jan2014/
Ah sure the Dublin players will be grand the gaa will prob blame paul galvin for it ,
Galvin would have given a love bite
dubs are only rotten mungralls for bitten on the field.
If not just souur shpuds, hopefully the player in question gets some more shots on target next time and just hypodermic ones in the arse!! Jimmys winning PR battles!
Your that much of a clown. You can’t even spell the word Mongrel correctly.
dereck il spell it my way and u spell it ur way ya u filthy lookin clown
I sincerely hope the Dublin player in question got a tetanus jab afterwards…
I would like to take this moment to point out that Tyrone had nothing to do with this particular bite.
The dog bit him when he went home blame the dubs for everything
Typical anti-dub rhetoric here. Guilty before anyone knows what went on.
No sense of humour here at all
Got bit on the shoulder heard it all now, what a bunch of whingers
If I bit your shoulder I bet you’d be whinging too.
Bitten
Depends who was doing the biting.
Would that be a shoulder to cry on?
The Walking Dub
Biters will be bitin’?
That’s just nasty, biting someone.
I never knew Luis Suarez had signed for the Dubs….
He could ate an apple through a tennis racket.
Lol class
At least they only spit in Rugby!
Pretty sure they bite as well. Regardless of what sport it is, its not acceptable
You can’t please everyone, I often hear people complain because there is no bite in the game, then when there is….
What about a bit of needle?
Those jackeens were always hungry lads
It’s happening for years at least the gum shield law will ease the pain
Look at him. He’s a ride!!! I bite him any day!
More than likely the bite was from some dirty oul Donegal bird from the night before
How would it be sour grapes, sure they drew the match. Dublin didn’t relegate Donegal sure they didn’t even beat them!
No place for it. Seems that both Dublin and Donegal aware of it. How are they going to prove it?
Bloody savaged
did you mean..
A) Bloodily savaged
B) Bloody savage
C) Bloody savaged he was
” The Armagh whistler was forced to leave the game during the second-half after injuring his ankle with Sligo’s Marty Duffy taking his place instead ” ………… WHAT ARE YOU ON ABOUT FINTAN ?
The referee going off injured and being replaced.