IRELAND HAVE CONFIRMED that tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong and lock Joe McCarthy will not return from injury for Sunday’s Six Nations clash with Scotland in Edinburgh.
Furlong and McCarthy missed last weekend’s bonus-point win over England due to a calf injury and concussion, respectively, and will not recover in time to take on the Scots.
However, there was good news from Ireland camp with tighthead prop Finlay Bealham and right wing Mack Hansen taking a full part in training today.
Bealham was forced off against England with a worrying-looking ankle injury, while Hansen suffered a deep cut above his knee in the opening minute but managed to complete the game after temporarily leaving the pitch to get the wound covered.
Happily, Bealham and Hansen were fit to take part in Ireland training today and though they must still get trough the remainder of the preparation this week, the initial signs are very encouraging.
“They trained just now and it looks positive for both of them,” said Ireland assistant coach John Fogarty on Hansen and Bealham.
“They took part in the full session. They looked good today.
“The session has just ended, so they will be looked at again, and there will be a medical before tomorrow morning and so on.
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“It’s very positive today, they trained well, they trained throughout the season – took part in the whole thing, so it’s good.”
Hansen was able to complete the England game with heavy strapping over the wound on his knee, which the wing suffered while making a big tackle on England’s Cadan Murley in the opening exchanges.
Furlong won't be back this weekend. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Having been replaced by blood sub Henshaw, the Connacht man returned to finish out Ireland’s win.
“He had quite a deep cut on his keen but movement-wise, he was good when he come back on,” said Fogarty.
“Mack doesn’t think too much. It was a nasty enough cut but he doesn’t spend time dwelling on it. He’s moving really, really well. He’s out there sprinting and chasing kicks, all the bits. He’s good.”
Bealham picked up his ankle injury when his leg was trapped under England prop Joe Heyes in the second half and while the Connacht tighthead has had ankle issues before, Fogarty said that Bealham is also moving well.
That’s a big boost given that Furlong won’t be returning from his calf injury this weekend. It remains unclear when the Wexford man will be back.
“Tadhg is making great progress,” said Fogarty.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of it, I spoke to the doctor this morning and he has made great progress. There’s a really good plan and we’ll get him back as soon as he’s ready.”
Fogarty confirmed that second row Joe McCarthy won’t complete the 12-day concussion recovery process in time to feature against the Scots.
McCarthy suffered the nasty head injury in Ireland training last Wednesday and will instead target a return in their clash with Wales on 22 February.
Ireland were happy with lots of elements of their performance against England but Fogarty highlighted a few areas where they hope to improve this weekend in Scotland.
Ireland celebrate Dan Sheehan's try. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“It’s a different challenge,” he said. “We’re away from home, so there is a different mentality to going over there.
“There are parts around our kick-chase that we have identified as coaches and there’s bits and pieces across the game. We’re always trying to improve. We want to have a better performance.
“We are searching for that better performance, very ambitious group of players. There is huge competition across the group and that drives the performance in training sessions.
“I think as a forward group, we got a lot of entries into their 22 and we didn’t convert them in the way we would have liked. I’m talking maul into some of the grunt work and that’s another area where Scotland will be around the ruck.
“They’ve got some world-class poachers in their squad so all those areas from maul into the grunt work around what we do in the 22, some of those free-kicks in the 22 as well, we need to be converting those. We didn’t against England, so it’s another area we’re working on and trying to improve.”
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Furlong and McCarthy ruled out but Hansen and Bealham look good for Scots clash
IRELAND HAVE CONFIRMED that tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong and lock Joe McCarthy will not return from injury for Sunday’s Six Nations clash with Scotland in Edinburgh.
Furlong and McCarthy missed last weekend’s bonus-point win over England due to a calf injury and concussion, respectively, and will not recover in time to take on the Scots.
However, there was good news from Ireland camp with tighthead prop Finlay Bealham and right wing Mack Hansen taking a full part in training today.
Bealham was forced off against England with a worrying-looking ankle injury, while Hansen suffered a deep cut above his knee in the opening minute but managed to complete the game after temporarily leaving the pitch to get the wound covered.
Happily, Bealham and Hansen were fit to take part in Ireland training today and though they must still get trough the remainder of the preparation this week, the initial signs are very encouraging.
“They trained just now and it looks positive for both of them,” said Ireland assistant coach John Fogarty on Hansen and Bealham.
“They took part in the full session. They looked good today.
“The session has just ended, so they will be looked at again, and there will be a medical before tomorrow morning and so on.
“It’s very positive today, they trained well, they trained throughout the season – took part in the whole thing, so it’s good.”
Hansen was able to complete the England game with heavy strapping over the wound on his knee, which the wing suffered while making a big tackle on England’s Cadan Murley in the opening exchanges.
Having been replaced by blood sub Henshaw, the Connacht man returned to finish out Ireland’s win.
“He had quite a deep cut on his keen but movement-wise, he was good when he come back on,” said Fogarty.
“Mack doesn’t think too much. It was a nasty enough cut but he doesn’t spend time dwelling on it. He’s moving really, really well. He’s out there sprinting and chasing kicks, all the bits. He’s good.”
Bealham picked up his ankle injury when his leg was trapped under England prop Joe Heyes in the second half and while the Connacht tighthead has had ankle issues before, Fogarty said that Bealham is also moving well.
That’s a big boost given that Furlong won’t be returning from his calf injury this weekend. It remains unclear when the Wexford man will be back.
“Tadhg is making great progress,” said Fogarty.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of it, I spoke to the doctor this morning and he has made great progress. There’s a really good plan and we’ll get him back as soon as he’s ready.”
Fogarty confirmed that second row Joe McCarthy won’t complete the 12-day concussion recovery process in time to feature against the Scots.
McCarthy suffered the nasty head injury in Ireland training last Wednesday and will instead target a return in their clash with Wales on 22 February.
Ireland were happy with lots of elements of their performance against England but Fogarty highlighted a few areas where they hope to improve this weekend in Scotland.
“It’s a different challenge,” he said. “We’re away from home, so there is a different mentality to going over there.
“There are parts around our kick-chase that we have identified as coaches and there’s bits and pieces across the game. We’re always trying to improve. We want to have a better performance.
“We are searching for that better performance, very ambitious group of players. There is huge competition across the group and that drives the performance in training sessions.
“I think as a forward group, we got a lot of entries into their 22 and we didn’t convert them in the way we would have liked. I’m talking maul into some of the grunt work and that’s another area where Scotland will be around the ruck.
“They’ve got some world-class poachers in their squad so all those areas from maul into the grunt work around what we do in the 22, some of those free-kicks in the 22 as well, we need to be converting those. We didn’t against England, so it’s another area we’re working on and trying to improve.”
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