RUGBY: MUNSTER FULLBACK Felix Jones' career continues to be disrupted by injury. The 24-year-old is unavailable for the upcoming three-Test tour of New Zealand as he requires shoulder surgery and a four-month recovery period.
Jones missed the 2011 World Cup and six months of this season after sustaining ankle ligament damage last August.
The other major concern is Paul O’Connell. Having again damaged knee ligaments, initially hurt against France during the Six Nations, in the defeat of Ulster on May 5th, the Munster captain is struggling to regain fitness ahead of the opening Test match at Eden Park on June 9th.
“He has not been ruled out of contention and a final decision on his availability will be made after the Barbarians game,” read an Irish management statement.
Ireland coach Declan Kidney yesterday named a 22-man squad to face the Barbarians on May 29th at Kingsholm, with two “AN Other” slots to be filled by Leinster players, depending on their availability.
Leinster face the Ospreys in the RaboDirect Pro 12 final at the RDS just two days beforehand, but Kidney’s squad is without a fullback, with another vacancy in the forwards.
“The game against the Baa-Baas is vital for us in our preparations for the tour as it gives some players the chance to gain match fitness if they have not played for a couple of weeks, allows us to further expose some players to the national set-up and also gives us the opportunity to get some foundations in place for the Test series,” said Kidney.
Despite Jones’s unavailability, Connacht’s Gavin Duffy has been overlooked. If Dave Kearney is not used by Leinster over the next two weekends, he could be given a chance to nail down the role of shadowing elder brother Rob by lining out at 15 against John Kirwan’s Barbarians side.
Keith Earls is the other option, although the Limerick man covets an outside centre berth.
Between 28 and 30 players will be on the demanding tour of the Southern Hemisphere, with up to 15 Leinster players expected to join the squad ahead of departure to New Zealand, from London, on Thursday, May 31st.
That means several players currently included will be discarded after the Baa-Baas game.
For starters, Connacht tighthead prop Ronan Loughney and Ulster’s Declan Fitzpatrick appear to be in a straight duel to be understudy to Mike Ross on tour.
Fitzpatrick only came into the reckoning after replacing the suspended John Afoa with an impressive scrummaging performance in the Heineken Cup semi-final defeat of Edinburgh.
Connacht flanker John Muldoon looks the most susceptible to exclusion once the Leinster backrowers – Seán O’Brien, Jamie Heaslip and possibly Kevin McLaughlin and Shane Jennings – are included.
Mike Sherry is named ahead of injured Munster team-mate Damien Varley (ankle, 12 weeks) at hooker, although Seán Cronin is still to come in.
Ulster scrumhalf Paul Marshall will be under pressure from Isaac Boss and Eoin Reddan, while it looks like Kidney will not deviate from Jonathan Sexton and Ronan O’Gara as Ireland’s outhalf options despite Ian Madigan’s impressive form of late.
The management feel Paddy Jackson’s development is better served captaining the under-20s at the Junior World Cup in South Africa.
The form of several Ulster players has been rewarded, with Chris Henry and Darren Cave selected and while Nevin Spence may be dropped once the Leinster midfielders return, winger Craig Gilroy and Munster’s Simon Zebo should profit from injuries to Tommy Bowe and Luke Fitzgerald. The Barbarians squad includes Munster’s BJ Botha and Afoa, Pedrie Wannenburg, Isa Nacewa, Felipe Contepomi and the retiring Mick O’Driscoll.
IRELAND SQUAD: Forwards: Hookers: R Best, M Sherry. Props: D Fitzpatrick, T Court, R Loughney. Secondrows: D Tuohy, D O'Callaghan, D Ryan. Backrows: S Ferris, C Henry, J Muldoon, P O'Mahony, AN Other. Backs: Scrumhalves: P Marshall, C Murray. Outhalf: R O'Gara. Inside centres: P Wallace, N Spence. Outside centres: D Cave, K Earls. Wings: C Gilroy, A Trimble, S Zebo. Fullback: AN Other.
BARBARIANS SQUAD: I Nacewa (Fij), M Muliaina (NZ), I Balshaw (Eng), C Heymans (Fra), S Williams (Wal), P Sackey (Eng), S Tagicakibau (Sam), E Fuimaono-Sapolu (Sam), M Tindall (Eng), D Traille (Fra), F Contepomi (Arg), S Donald (NZ), S Jones (Wal), R Lawson (Sco), J Fillol (Fra). Forwards: S Brits (RSA), B August (Fra), J Smit (RSA), A de Malmanche (NZ), J Afoa (NZ), D Jones (Wal), B J Botha (RSA), N Tialata (NZ), J Thion (Fra), M O'Driscoll (Irl), A van Zyl (RSA), P Taele (Sam), R Lakafia (Fra), A Burban (Fra), A Qera (Fij), J Beattie (Sco), P Wannenburg (RSA), J M Leguizamon (Arg).
