Irish Full back Geordan Murphy looks set to miss the start of Ireland’s Six Nation campaign after being ruled out for a month with an ankle injury.
The Leicester man picked up the injury playing for the Tigers against Northampton on Saturday – and now looks likely to miss Ireland’s opening fixture of the tournament against Italy.
Fears Murphy has ligament damage could be confirmed after further medical assessment on Wednesday. Murphy may look to target his country’s second game, against France, on the 13th of February, or against Scotland on the 27th.
Murphy, capped 69 times by his country, had been in sparkling form this season for his club side and will be disappointed not to be able to take that form in to the Six Nations for his country.
Leicester’s director of rugby Richard Cockerill said: “He certainly won't be fit for this weekend but fingers crossed it won't be too serious. It's really disappointing for Geordan; he was coming in to some good form”.
The news comes as a further blow for Ireland head coach Declan Kidney, who has already seen fellow full back Rob Kearney ruled out of the early stages of the tournament, while forward Jerry Flannery had previously been ruled out with a torn calf muscle.
Kidney is under pressure following a string of disappointing results, but looks to have turned the corner after defeating a rugged Argentina side 29-9.
That win came after a resounding defeat against New Zealand – their formidable opponents in the All Black Jersey were resounding victors 18-38.
The Cork native will hope to emulate his 2009 Grand Slam winning side, but will struggle to replace Murphy in his side.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment