Leinster have confirmed that Jordan Larmour suffered a dislocated shoulder during the province's victory over Benetton in Treviso last Saturday and will miss Ireland's rescheduled Six Nations Championship games against Italy and France later this month as well as the four Autumn Nations Cup Test matches in November and December.
A medical update clarified Larmour’s injury. It read: “Jordan Larmour was withdrawn against Benetton Rugby with a dislocated shoulder and will have a procedure this week. We will have an appreciation of his return to play prognosis after the surgery but he will be unavailable for the upcoming Guinness Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup.”
Larmour could also miss the opening two rounds of 2020-2021 Champions Cup which take place in December. Leinster also stated that Ryan Baird had been taken off during the Benetton match after suffering "an adductor strain and he will be further assessed this week by the Leinster Rugby medical team."
This would suggest that the 21-year-old will not link up with Andy Farrell's Ireland squad when it convenes on Wednesday at the High Performance Centre in Abbotstown, especially as the medical bulletin clarified that "Rónan Kelleher (quad), Andrew Porter (hamstring) and Johnny Sexton (hamstring) will be assessed by the IRFU medical team this week."
Baird’s potential absence, while a blow on a personal level for the hugely gifted player, also further depletes Farrell’s resources at secondrow, especially if Iain Henderson, who received a red card during Ulster’s win over the Ospreys last weekend, is hit with a suspension at the disciplinary hearing this week.
Farrell may look to replenish his resources by adding one or two players from a list that includes Ultan Dillane, Devin Toner, Kieran Treadwell or the uncapped Gavin Thornbury. Larmour’s unavailability should see another player who can play wing and/or fullback added to the Irish squad, an area already shorn of Keith Earls and Will Addison through injury.
Dave Kearney would have been an obvious choice but he is only returning from a hamstring issue. Darren Sweetnam (27) and Rory O’Loughlin (26) have previously been capped while Connacht’s Alex Wootton and Rob Lyttle of Ulster are in-form wings. Munster fullback Mike Haley is another option. Leinster’s New Zealand-born wing James Lowe, who will train with the Ireland squad this week, qualifies on residency grounds next month.
The litany of injuries extends to Connacht duo hooker Dave Heffernan and tighthead prop Finlay Bealham, both of whom are following the return to play protocols, after failing Head Injury Assessments (HIAs) during the first quarter of the province’s Pro 14 defeat to the Cardiff Blues at the weekend, potentially further depleting frontrow resources.
Tadhg Furlong remains under medical supervision in Leinster to rehabilitate a calf problem following a back injury; Porter is nursing a hamstring injury, Kelleher a quad strain, while Munster's Niall Scannell recently underwent surgery.
An Irish squad medical update will be released on Wednesday after the group underwent a Covid-19 screening programme on Monday. The squad will be in a bubble at the High Performance Centre and have their own pitch and gym facilities.
There was further bad news for Leinster with the confirmation that Max Deegan had suffered a torn anterior cruciate knee ligament in Leinster's win over the Dragons at the RDS.
Deegan had a procedure last week but is expected to undergo surgery next month to repair the damage; the timeframe for a return is somewhere between six and nine months which could keep him out for the bulk if not all of the season.
It is a very unfortunate blow for the talented 24-year-old who made his Ireland debut against Wales in the curtailed Six Nations last February. Deegan, the under-20 World Player of the Year in 2016, has made 65 appearances for Leinster since making his senior debut for the province in December of that year, scoring 18 tries.
His pace and athleticism offer a different set of skills both at provincial and national team levels. He would have been involved with the Ireland squad at some point during the November and December Test window.
In other international news, Adam Griggs’s Irish Women’s squad will begin their preparations to complete their 2020 Six Nations schedule with games against Italy (Sunday, October 25th at Donnybrook) and France (November 1st in Lille) at a training camp in the High Performance Centre this weekend.
Meanwhile, EPC Rugby confirmed that the pool draw for the 2020-2021 Champions Cup will take place in Lausanne on Wednesday, October 28th.
