The extent of Rónan Kelleher’s shoulder injury, which forced him off after 26 minutes of Ireland’s 30-24 defeat by France in Paris last Saturday, remains unclear following an IRFU squad update.
“Ronan Kelleher’s shoulder issue will be further investigated this week by the medical team,” read the statement, which added: “Johnny Sexton will continue his hamstring rehab and return to rugby programme this week.”
After Sexton was ruled out of the Six Nations encounter at the Stade de France after becoming the latest to suffer a soft tissue injury in training when sustaining a hamstring strain last Wednesday, Andy Farrell speculated that it would take seven to 10 days for his captain to recover.
Conceivably, of course, Farrell and co might well view Ireland’s next game against Italy at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday week as an opportunity to further invest in Joey Carbery following his assured first Six Nations start in Paris.
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The ongoing concerns over Kelleher are offset by the return to the squad of Rob Herring, who missed the opening two rounds with a calf injury. Herring will be one of 23 players who will re-assemble on Thursday for a two day mini-camp at the IRFU HPC on the Sport Ireland Campus.
A total of 14 players have been released to their provinces to be available for selection in URC fixtures this weekend - Jack Carty and Dave Heffernan (to Connacht), Ryan Baird, Cian Healy and Jordan Larmour (Leinster), Craig Casey, Gavin Coombes and Dave Kilcoyne (Munster) and Robert Baloucoune, James Hume, Michael Lowry, Tom O’Toole, Nick Timoney and Kieran Treadwell (Ulster).
Ireland Mini-Camp Training Squad:
Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 35 caps
Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers) 20 caps
Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne) 27 caps
Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf) 29 caps
Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 24 caps
Andrew Conway (Munster/Garryowen) 29 caps
Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 14 caps
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf) 54 caps
Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster) 14 caps
Mack Hansen (Connacht) 2 caps
Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 66 caps
Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers) 54 caps
Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 23 caps
Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 18 caps
Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 18 caps
Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 94 caps
Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 81 caps
Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 42 caps
Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 39 caps
James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 42 caps
Johnny Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 102 caps
Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne) 4 caps
Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 37 caps
Released to Provinces for URC Fixtures
Robert Baloucoune (Ulster/Enniskillen) 2 caps
Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University) 7 caps
Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht) 11 caps
Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon) 4 caps
Gavin Coombes (Munster/Young Munster) 2 caps
Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 114 caps
Dave Heffernan (Connacht/Buccaneers) 6 caps
James Hume (Ulster/Banbridge) 2 caps
Jordan Larmour (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 30 caps
Michael Lowry (Ulster/Banbridge) uncapped
Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 45 caps
Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 2 caps
Nick Timoney (Ulster/Banbridge) 2 caps
Kieran Treadwell (Ulster/Ballymena) 3 caps.
