Tommy Bowe
and Luke Marshall are the notable absentees from the
Ireland
training squad to face
Italy
while Simon Zebo’s period of exile was ended by Joe Schmidt last night.
Marshall sustained his latest concussion on Friday night at Ravenhill.
The 22-year-old, who started against Scotland, was stood down from April to September last year following a string of head traumas.
Staged return
Bowe, despite crossing for two tries in Ulster's 38-8 victory over the Dragons, "tightened up after 30 minutes but finished the half as planned and will continue to follow a staged return to play programme".
The wing debate was quietened further by Luke Fitzgerald being ruled out indefinitely after his abductor muscle injury flared up.
“The medical team are working really hard on all the possibilities and trying to get to the bottom of it ,” said Leinster coach Matt O’Connor. “We’ve just got to find out what the underlying cause is. Once we do that we can put in a treatment plan for that. He is very disappointed, he’s keen to get to the bottom of it, as we all are . . . .”
Tommy O’Donnell is unavailable due to a stinger sustained in Munster’s defeat to Llanelli on Saturday while Zebo’s recall is because of Felix Jones’s knee injury.
Isaac Boss has been put on ice having not had a break this season so Eoin Reddan is certain to return to the match-day squad.
Medical updates on Andrew Trimble (knee), Jonathan Sexton (thumb), Peter O’Mahony (hamstring) and of course Brian O’Driscoll (calf) are expected today.
Richardt Strauss, having undergone heart surgery late last year, continues his remarkable recovery and will challenge Seán Cronin to understudy for Rory Best.
Most strain
But centre has become the position under most strain. O'Driscoll stated he expects to play but Fergus McFadden featured at 13 in Leinster's victory over Glasgow while Darren Cave and Robbie Henshaw also return to camp.
“In fairness to Joe he does show confidence in the players that are in his squad,” said McFadden. “He emphasises that it is a tournament that will be won by a squad. There will be injuries and guys who could be fatigued by three games on the trot.
“Hopefully he will bring in new faces and I hope I will be one of them. With a good week’s training who knows, we’ll see. I desperately want to start against Italy, to be honest,” McFadden added
Schmidt is not one to shy away from changing a winning or losing team but is equally keen to leave no positional holes among his reserves.
McFadden could be any one of the group yet to start a Six Nations game as the likes of Donnacha Ryan, Rhys Ruddock and Zebo have shown the form and desire to wear an Ireland jersey again.
