INJURY NEWS:BRIAN O'DRISCOLL and Luke Fitzgerald are not expected to play any competitive rugby until the first international at the Aviva Stadium against South Africa on November 6th.
Joe Schmidt would have been informed about it ad nauseam, but this week it finally becomes a reality – his Leinster players are not really his. They belong to the Irish management.
Despite Leinster stating as late as Thursday O’Driscoll had a “50- 50 chance” of playing at Wembley against Saracens last Saturday, the Ireland captain has yet to complete a training session and his hamstring, which has caused him trouble on several occasions in the past, will not be risked in Saturday’s match against Connacht at the Sportsground.
It also turns out Fitzgerald’s injury is not a bruised hip, as previously stated, but damaged ribs.
Leinster stated he may resume training today, but full contact at this stage would surely be vetoed by the Irish management.
With a 34-man international squad gathering in Limerick on Monday, it is unlikely most players being considered for the Springboks game will feature in Magners League action next week either.
This is flexible in the case of players short of match fitness such as Leo Cullen.
Again, this will be Declan Kidney’s call.
That means the Munster versus Ulster fixture at Ravenhill on Friday, October 29th, would be bereft of those players due to feature for Ireland against the world champions.
Fitzgerald, however, is not included in the initial Ireland squad so he may need to prove his fitness, possibly against Edinburgh at the RDS Showgrounds on October 30th.
The versatile 23-year-old has featured at fullback, wing and centre since making a full recovery from the ruptured knee ligaments that kept him out of the Ireland team since last November’s draw with Australia at Croke Park.
Cullen fits into a similar category, having only made his first appearance of the season in the second half against Saracens last Saturday, after recovering from shoulder surgery.
The Leinster captain will seek to play something close to 80 minutes in Galway in an attempt to squeeze into Kidney’s November plans, if not for the Springboks then for the visit of Samoa on November 13th. The All Blacks follow a week later, with Argentina completing four Saturdays of Test match rugby on November 27th.
For Schmidt, his three provincial counterparts are well acquainted with the system by now, it will provide a acute reminder of the difficulties with player management in a World Cup season and how that priority supersedes everything else.
The Leinster team will be announced tomorrow but Eoin Reddan looks set to make way for Isaac Boss at scrumhalf (both are in the Ireland squad along with Peter Stringer as Tomás O’Leary waits for his fractured thumb to heal) while Gordon D’Arcy may also rest a damaged calf.
That means Fergus McFadden, who featured off the bench against Saracens for Fitzgerald, and Eoin O’Malley are in contention to come into the midfield.
Meanwhile, Ulster are still without fullback Jamie Smith (shoulder girdle/rib) and centre Darren Cave (hamstring) for tomorrow’s trip to Edinburgh.
