Murray Kinsella reports from Guildford
JOE SCHMIDT SAYS Ireland are quietly confident that Jared Payne will be in a position to feature for Ireland in next weekend’s World Cup clash with France.
The outside centre misses out on Sunday’s meeting with Italy due to a foot injury, having spent a portion of this week using crutches to avoid putting weight on what Ireland have described as a “bruised foot.”
Payne is now back jogging, and the hope is that he heals swiftly in order to train fully next week. Keith Earls starts at 13 in his absence this weekend, but Payne’s defensive qualities could be essential against les Bleus in Cardiff.
“He’s progressing really well,” said Schmidt in Guildford today. “There was a scan as a precaution to make sure there was nothing structural awry. He’s got bruising and that’s it, it’s just inflammation and discomfort that is getting better by the day.
He’s able to walk around freely now on it and jog around, but it’s just a frustration that he hasn’t been able to prepare himself and he would probably not be fit by Sunday anyway, so there’s not a point in trying to push him through too quickly.
Will he be fit to play France?
“We’d be quietly confident at the moment,” said Schmidt. “We’d be expecting that he’d be able to train at least individually on Tuesday and he’d be able to train with the team on Wednesday.”
With Robbie Henshaw having recovered from his hamstring strain, fullback Rob Kearney is the other main injury concern in Joe Schmidt’s 31-man World Cup squad at present.
The Leinster man was left out this weekend, with Simon Zebo retained at 15, but Schmidt says Kearney is looking good for the France clash.
“Rob’s probably fit to play but he wasn’t fit to play at the start of the week,” said Schmidt. “He trained pretty much fully today, so there’s no real doubts for him next week.
“I think one of the difficulties is trying to make an assessment when you’re waiting for a soft tissue injury to heal and you don’t know how long that’s going to be, trying to get a bit of clarity today for training.
“We effectively confirmed the team this morning before training.”
Ireland need Payne for the later stage of the tournament, his defense of the 13 channel is brilliant and it is ridiculous that people are criticising him over rolling the dice with two kicks when we had advantage.
Also when Ireland get to the knock-out stages they will not play an open expansive game. They will play to their strengths and not try to match the Southern Hemisphere teams with wide attacking rugby. They will need their best defenders which Payne is one of.
I’d hope the Payne doesn’t return if I’m honest
It’s seems to be a good indicator how much somebody knows about rugby by how they rate Jared Payne. Lots of newcomers to the sport seem to have latched on to the idea that he’s shite because of a few loose kicks.
You obviously don’t watch much rugby do you?
Eh, well said Rochelle. I hadn’t refreshed the page before leaving that comment.
The backlash to the Payne criticism has been over the top. He’s a solid player who isn’t in a great run of form.
Well said Greg!
And the fact he offers nothing in attack. All he is good for is defense
Nice to see people who know nothing about rugby are getting in on the act. Welcome, Eoin and Greg.
Ya whole Payne thing with two camps, half arguing he is shite cause they heard Matt Williams say it, they others arguing he is one of Ireland’s most important players because they heard BOD say it. The truth as usual is somewhere in the middle, defensively he has been excellent, his reads are improving all the time and he is a big guy with some stopping power so we are giving away very little which has be Joe’s modus operandi with Ireland. Offensively he is a strong runner able to move the ball along the line, but he doesn’t really have a line break to his game and decision making can be slow/poor when the opposition push right up on him (having been primarily a fullback). He is Joe’s first choice and will probably shine more now against better opposition where we spend more time on the back door and he can show his skillset. With the option to move Earls in and bring Zebo on if it opens up or we badly need a score….
I’m all for converts. No problem with band waggon hoppers, good for viewing numbers. But they should keep their mouths shut until they can recognise an arse from an elbow.
Green thumbed Rochelle feel slightly uneasy.
Ha, I made the same point as Rochelle, how do you think I feel?
A rare green thumb for you too Rochelle :) Fair play.
sorry lads I meant I hope the pain in his foot doesn’t return. Puns gone wrong.
Ha! Brilliant
Peter, everyone is entitled to an opinion! You think you know everything do you?
What was he doing out hurling in the first place, secondly it’s far from Tulla he was raised. Bruised foot! Did ya ever hear the like of it??