IRELAND HAVE BEEN dealt a big injury blow with confirmation that loosehead prop Andrew Porter has been ruled out of the rest of the Six Nations with an ankle issue.
The 26-year-old suffered the injury during last weekend’s win over Italy and will now miss the final two rounds of the championship against England and Scotland.
Porter has been in superb form for Andy Farrell’s side, making a huge success of his switch from tighthead prop to the loosehead side this season.
He is the second member of Ireland’s first-choice front row whose Six Nations has been ended by injury, with hooker Rónan Kelleher having sustained a shoulder injury during the Round 2 clash with France.
The IRFU says that Porter has now left Ireland camp and returned to Leinster, whose medical staff will oversee his rehabilitation. It remains to be seen how long Porter it out for.
Ireland have not formally called up any player to their Six Nations squad in place of Porter.
The highly-experienced Cian Healy and Dave Kilcoyne are part of Farrell’s group and have featured off the bench during this Six Nations, so both will now be keen to get a starting chance in the huge clash with England on Saturday 12 March.
Gutted for him, big opportunity to fill his spot. He’s down a great job and wish him a speedy recovery
Why was he not taken off as soon as he went down v Italy?
@Chris Mc: because the game was so bad that nobody noticed. Everyone was looking at their phones instead
@Chris Mc: He went off 2 mins after he first got bandaged up. Doubt much happened in those 2 mins
@Ciaran Kennedy: haha very good
Big loss he’s a beast gets through a Ridiclous amount of work
Balls. Start Healy Vs England, bring Kilcoyne on early in the 2nd half.
@Cian Nolan: Pretty clear that we have a serious lack of depth at loose and tight head. Healy and Kilcoyne are massive downgrades to Porter. Would be detrimental if either he or Furlong went down during a World Cup
@#JUSTICE4NOEL: so with a 160 caps between them I think we’ll be OK.
@Chris Mc: I think the worry is their ball handling skills. The way Ireland play now, they use the front row to carry and not be afraid to pass or offload. I do worry against england will we see a tighter, 1 out runner and kicking game.
@#JUSTICE4NOEL: they’re only downgrades because Porter is so good. Plenty of teams would be happy to have Healy or Kilcoyne. I’d argue that Healy is a better scrumager on the loose head side. Kilcoynes form has been up and down but when he’s good he can make a big difference in the loose.
@Cian Nolan: that’s what will happen I’d bet. I don’t think it will be too detrimental. I fancy us to win our two final games.
@Aaron Tynan: both are Hardy physical props. Healy is Very good close to the line and kilcoyne is a little better running in the open. It’s not great but not a disaster either.
@Chris Mc: Experience doesnt equate to quality. We lack so much without Porter in the loose. Difficult to replace that with what’s behind him
No problems with the two lads when it comes to physicality, issue is distribution
Hopefully back for the Heineken cup games
A front row of Balham Herring and Kilcoyne won’t have England or indeed Scotland quaking in their boots
@Anton Phelan: we still have furlong, sheehan and healy. Besides, like the French game, good to use this season to use new/different combinations under pressure. No point only throwing these guys in in a dead rubber of a summer test when we need them to step up for a quarter final.
@James Daly: agreed, this might be exactly what we need in 18months. Yes we do have a depth issue, let’s put in faces and see how they do. Healy we know what he can do but they’ll obviously want a safe pair of hands for Twickenham, but we need to look beyond Healy and Kilcoyne. Just in case. I mean, it’s amazing Healy is still on the go really considering his career and what he’s been through.
@SPQH: Neither Healy or Kilcoyne will be picked in 18 months both will be 35/36
@Anton Phelan: not old for a prop.
@Anton Phelan: Both could squeeze into 1 more RWC. but you’re not wrong to suggest both could be out. that’s the question though isn’t it, who would you pick? Who’s up and coming and potentially good enough to add, because they will surely start to need game time at the top level now if they’re to come on in a RWC quarter final!
@Anton Phelan: I like him. Hardy buck, he’s in flying form with Munster.
@Jiminy Cricket: He is not an International prop
@Anton Phelan: he is…he has played lots of times for ireland
@Jiminy Cricket: Can’t see how you can say that. Between injury, the South African debacle and time with the national squad he’s hardly played over the last 4 months.
Badly needs a run of games imo.
He is undoubtedly a huge loss, however Healy and Kilcyone do provide adequate cover in the short term. The other side of the scrum however is a big worry in the long and the short term,we lose Furlong and we’re in big trouble
Better this year than next anyway! Hopefully he has a speedy recovery. It would be good to see Farrell take an extended prop list into the next few Ireland camps and get a few people up to speed with O’Connell and the set up there. It would also be great if the likes of Jack McGrath, Eric O’Sullivan etc. could get a nice run of health and games in the next year and a bit to add some depth of options.
Porter has matured massively in his time with Ireland and seems much more team focused and performance driven than when he first came on the scene. My admiration for this young man’s talent has grown into serious respect for his effort and application. I wish him a full and swift recovery.