The news about Jack Conan’s injury is that there is no news. Or if there is, the Ireland set-up isn’t ready to release it yet. John Fogarty was the member of the coaching staff put up in front of the media on Tuesday and though he was effusive about the back row’s week of work, he couldn’t be leant on to say whether or not Conan is available to play against England this weekend. Or at any stage in the near future.
“He has been going really well through the week last week,” Fogarty said. “I haven’t got an update. Andy [Farrell] will be up on Thursday and he will answer, he will give you some further information. But I haven’t got an update. He has had a good week. Really, really good week.”
Quite what that good week entailed, we’ll have to wait a few days to find out. Conan stayed behind last week while the rest of the squad went to Portugal for warm-weather training so there’s no understating the seriousness of the foot injury he picked up against Italy 10 days ago. With under a fortnight to go before Farrell names his 33-man squad for the World Cup, time is undeniably getting tight for the Leinster and Lions forward.
The one piece of concrete news Fogarty brought with him to the media briefing was that Munster prop Jeremy Loughman has joined the squad for training to fill in while Dave Kilcoyne rests a knock. There’s no suggestion that Kilcoyne is a doubt for the long-term or even the medium-term. But they needed to cover for him in training and so his Munster team-mate filled his boots.
“Dave Kilcoyne is carrying something so we have brought in Jeremy Loughman,” Fogarty said. “To be honest, it is a pleasure to bring in Jeremy.
“I thought Munster, in the last six games, had done so well and Jeremy was part of that. He is going to add [to us]. He had a really good session today. It’s actually brilliant to be able to bring someone like Jeremy in.
“Killer is just looking after himself for the week, so Jeremy will step in with us. It’s good.”
With the World Cup opener against Romania just 25 days away, everything is understandably filtered through the same looming prism. The England game on Saturday will be Ireland’s last appearance in front of their home crowd before the tournament begins. A significant game in its own right – but there’s no point pretending it’s not part of something much bigger.
“It’s such a pleasure to be able to pull your jersey on in front of hopefully what will be close to a full stadium against a team that has caused us issues in the past,” said Fogarty. “A huge momentum team that bring lots of physicality, look to gain lots of territory and put you under so much pressure through all those things.
“So, it’s a different challenge. It’s probably a step up and I think the timing of that is perfect for us. We are primed and ready for the weekend. It’s important that we continue to make good decisions on the field and get a result. We are really looking forward to it.”
