The Independent

Kearney concern

Full-back fears injuries may scupper Ireland

- 2015 INJURY RATE ‘NOT AT ALL EXTRAORDIN­ARY’

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know other teams are suffering too.”

Asked whether O’Connell now feared the worst, Kearney replied: “Yes, he probably does. There’s not much I can say here, in the next 30 seconds, that gives testament to his contributi­on to Irish rugby: if he’s ruled out, it’s going to be a monumental loss. He’s looked as though he’s been really enjoying his rugby and when it’s like that, guys get the best out of themselves. If he can’t continue in this tournament, it will be massively disappoint­ing.”

O’Brien’s disciplina­ry citing was widely anticipate­d: video footage shows him thumping Pascal Papé in the chest in the opening moments of Sunday’s contest, leaving the French lock in need of prolonged treatment. If there was any kind of silver lining for the Irish camp, it came with the news that their next opponents might lose the goal-kicking centre Marcelo Bosch to suspension. The Pumas midfielder must also answer a disciplina­ry charge, this one relating to dangerous tackling during the comprehens­ive victory over Namibia at the weekend.

With Wales, another of this weekend’s quarter-finalists, suffering even more orthopaedi­c strife than Ireland, leading figures from World Rugby, the sport’s internatio­nal governing body, were pressed hard on the extent of the casualty list at this tournament. But when Brett Gosper, the organisati­on’s chief executive, was asked whether the levels of physicalit­y were fast becoming unsustaina­ble, he argued against leaping to conclusion­s. World Rugby has insisted the injury levels seen at England 2015 so far are not “extraordin­ary in any way” and are in line with previous World Cups.

The total number of withdrawal­s from the competitio­n so far is 21, whereas in 2011 the figure for the entire event was 19. But 37 players went home early eight years ago.

World Rugby’s chief executive, Brett Gosper, said: “England 2015 is not tracking any differentl­y to any other tournament in the past.

“Visually, it is looking more serious because of the size of two of the games where injuries have been happening [England v Wales and Ireland v France], but our monitoring is not showing the number to be extraordin­ary in any particular way.”

It has to be evidence based rather than emotion based

“Our early indication­s are that England 2015 is not tracking any differentl­y to other tournament­s in the past,” he said. “Let’s wait until the tournament is over before conducting a full analysis. We want to make sure it’s evidence based rather than emotion based, because player welfare is our No 1 priority.”

Gosper went on to describe the quality of the pool stage as “breathtaki­ng”, reporting that more than £200m had been generated in ticket sales and that, along with stadium audiences totalling 1.8 million, more than 750,000 supporters had attended official “fanzones” in towns and cities up and down the country. He also said that he was not “getting any sense of a stutter in interest” as a result of England’s early departure from their own tournament.

 ?? PA ?? Paul O’Connell is carried off the pitch in agony against France on Sunday
PA Paul O’Connell is carried off the pitch in agony against France on Sunday
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