Rugby:As the Irish management continue to count the cost of Saturday's bruising defeat at the hands of the All Blacks, Declan Kidney has opted to delay naming his side to face Argentina until Wednesday afternoon at the earliest.
With Luke Fitzgerald, Rob Kearney and Rory Best already ruled out with long-term injuries, Kidney, who had been due to name the side tomorrow, will give his walking wounded a little more time to recover before finalising his selection.
The team announcement has already been put back until Wednesday but may yet delayed until later in the week. Argentina coach Santiago Phelan is not due to name his side until Friday, with Kidney under no obligation to do so earlier than the touring Pumas.
Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll is one of three more players who remain a concern but it is though he will recover sufficiently from a bruised shoulder in time for Sunday’s match at the Aviva Stadium. And in a backline ravaged by injury, Tommy Bowe and Gordon D’Arcy are also nursing calf strains and are due to undergo rest and rehabilitation this week.
D’Arcy admitted that the 38-18 defeat on Saturday was hard to take, not least because the side had played so well.
“I suppose there were mixed feelings after the game,” he said today. “We were happy that a lot of the things we have been trying to do over the last two weeks started to come off but disappointed at the end that some of our own mistakes allowed New Zealand to capitalise and pull away from us with those quick scores. They are very clinical when taking scoring opportunities.
“I don’t think there is a better side in the world at the moment (than New Zealand) in terms of punishing you for any mistakes, but I think we can be positive that we are still on the right road and Saturday showed that.”
And the centre is hoping his calf injury, given time to recover, won’t keep him out of the Argentina game.
“The calf took a knock early on and tightened up but our heads were up and it was not preventing me too much from performing my role with the team,” he added. "I think the same thing happened to Tommy, but sometimes with a knock to the calf, it only really gets bad when you warm down or get cold.
“I will rest it up and let the medics look after it and hopefully it will come good over the next couple of days.”