Irish scrum-half Conor Murray will no longer feature in Ireland’s Autumn Nation Series after sustaining a groin injury in their hard-fought 19-16 win over South Africa last weekend.
A statement from IRFU this afternoon read: ‘Unfortunately…Conor Murray has been ruled out of the rest of the series with a groin strain and will begin rehab in Munster.’
There is good elsewhere, however, with three of Ireland’s other major injury problems recovering quickly ahead of the Fiji test.
Tadhg Furlong, Robbie Henshaw and Stuart McCloskey received a positive prognosis.
“Robbie Henshaw, who missed Saturday’s game with a hamstring issue, will return to training this week.
“Stuart McCloskey is recovering quickly from the arm problem that forced him off early against South Africa and will train this week.
“Tadhg Furlong (ankle) is expected to take part in training this week, while Ireland captain Johnny Sexton is recovering well from a dead leg.”
Ireland’s A team, which was hammered by an All Blacks XV on Friday in the RDS, however lost three players to injury.
“Since Friday night’s A match against the All Black XV, Ciaran Frawley has twisted his knee and will continue his rehabilitation at Leinster. Joe McCarthy and Ryan Baird will continue their return to play protocols at Leinster.”
Ireland have also confirmed their 39-man squad for Fiji Week.
BACK
Robert Baloucoune (Ulster/Enniskillen)
Caolin Blade (Connacht/Galwegians)
Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf)
Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon)
Jack Crowley (Munster/Cork Constitution) uncapped
Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster)
Mack Hansen (Connacht)
Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers)
Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD)
Michael Lowry (Ulster/Banbridge)
Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor)
Calvin Nash (Munster/Young Munster)
Jimmy O’Brien (Leinster/Naas)
Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD)
Johnny Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College)
Jacob Stockdale (Ulster/Lurgan)
FORWARDERS
Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers)
Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne)
Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere)
Max Deegan (Leinster/Lansdowne)
Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College)
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf)
Dave Heffernan (Connacht/Buccaneers)
Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf)
Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy)
Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch)
Jeremy Loughman (Munster/Garryowen) beheaded
Mike Milne (Leinster/UCD) uncapped
Peter O’Mahony (Constitution of Munster/Cork)
Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch)
Scott Penny (Leinster/UCD) uncapped
Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD)
Cian Prendergast (Connacht) beheaded
James Ryan (Leinster/UCD)
Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne)
Gavin Thornbury (Connacht) beheaded
Nick Timoney (Ulster/Banbridge)
Kieran Treadwell (Ulster/Ballymena)
Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD)