As feared and as expected, Garry Ringrose and Iain Henderson have been ruled out of Ireland’s final game of the 2023 Guinness Six Nations against England at the Aviva Stadium next Saturday (kick-off 5pm) while Dan Sheehan, Ronan Kelleher and Caelan Doris have not been ruled out as of yet. All three will be monitored during the week.
As a result, the uncapped duo of Leinster lock Ross Molony and Ulster hooker Tom Stewart have been added to a 37-man squad which Andy Farrell has assembled in preparation for Saturday’s game, when Ireland will be seeking to seal just a fourth Grand Slam in history and the first to ever be completed in Dublin.
Given the six-day turnaround, one imagines it will be a relatively light week’s training.
The quintet of injured players were casualties of what the IRFU release called the Murrayfield Mayhem, when Ireland survived all manner of injuries to beat a Scottish side seeking a first Triple Crown since 1990 by 22-7.
After the match-day squad flew from Edinburgh on Sunday evening, the IRFU missive said that “Garry Ringrose is doing well today and has returned to Dublin. He will take no further part in this year’s Championship.
“Iain Henderson is due to undergo surgery today [Monday] on a fractured forearm sustained in the first half of yesterday’s game,” added the bulletin with regard to the desperately unlucky Ulster lock.
Both Sheehan and Kelleher sustained shoulder injuries against Scotland and “both will be managed in camp this week”, while similarly Caelan Doris’ hip complaint “will also be managed in camp this week.”
Johnny Sexton equalled Ronan O’Gara’s Six Nations Championship all-time points scorer record (557 points) against Scotland and can become the outright top points scorer in Championship history against England this weekend in his final Six Nations match.
Ireland’s final game of the Championship will be televised on Virgin Media and ITV.
Ireland squad to face England:
Bundee Aki (Connacht) Ryan Baird (Leinster) Ross Byrne (Leinster) Craig Casey (Munster) Jack Conan (Leinster) Gavin Coombes (Munster) Jack Crowley (Munster) Ciaran Frawley (Leinster) Tadhg Furlong (Leinster) Caelan Doris (Leinster) Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster) Mack Hansen (Connacht) Cian Healy (Leinster) Robbie Henshaw (Leinster) Rob Herring (Ulster) Hugo Keenan (Leinster) Ronan Kelleher (Leinster) Dave Kilcoyne (Munster) Jordan Larmour (Leinster) James Lowe (Leinster) Stuart McCloskey (Ulster) Ross Molony (Leinster) *Conor Murray (Munster) Jimmy O’Brien (Leinster) Peter O’Mahony (Munster) Tom O’Toole (Ulster) Andrew Porter (Leinster) Cian Prendergast (Connacht) James Ryan (Leinster) Roman Salanoa (Munster) Johnny Sexton (Leinster)(capt) Dan Sheehan (Leinster) Tom Stewart (Ulster) Jacob Stockdale (Ulster) Nick Timoney (Ulster) Kieran Treadwell (Ulster) Josh van der Flier (Leinster)
