IRELAND AND LEICESTER man Geordan Murphy is believed to have suffered a dislocated ankle, adding to Declan Kidney’s selection problems.

The Tigers captain was stretchered off after 71 minutes of Saturday’s English Premiership match against Northampton. He underwent a scan this morning.

Worryingly, Rob Kearney has already been ruled out of the opening games of the Six Nations against Italy with a knee injury, leaving Kidney without his two first choice full backs.

The fit-again Luke Fitzgerald now looks to be the natural selection.

Leicester boss  Richard Cockerill confirmed that the Kildare man had been injured on Saturday.

“He’s gone over on his ankle and we’ll assess it over the next couple of days,” he said.

Fellow Irish internationals David Wallace and John Hayes were forced off during Munster’s 22-20 Magners League win over Glasgow, but coach Tony McGahan sounded an optimistic note on Leeside ahead of next weekend’s crucial Heineken Cup assignment in Toulon. He said:

David is fine. John got a knee in the back, so we’ll see how he goes but they are the only two at this stage.

Sam (Tuitupou) and Tony (Buckley) both had illness during the week, so they weren’t good enough to get through any game time. Doug (Howlett) had a calf strain from last week, so he was more precautionary than anything.