Ireland without Best

SKIPPER Rory Best has been ruled out of Ireland’s three-Test tour in Australia because of a hamstring injury.

Munster hooker Niall Scannell has been chosen as the Ulster man’s replacement for the trip which involves Tests in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

Head coach Joe Schmidt indicated that Johnny Sexton and Peter O’Mahony could share the Irish captaincy. The Test matches against Australia take place on June 9, 16 and 23.

Schmidt said: “We felt he was really going in the right direction and he would be ready for game one against Australia, definitely for game two. But he’s just not quite where we need him to be.”

Best sustained the injury while training for Ulster and had to sit out the club’s final-game 35-17 win over Ospreys which secured a place in next season’s European Champions Cup.

The 35-year-old started all five matches of Ireland’s Grand Slam-winning Six Nations campaign and recently extended his contract with Ulster and the IRFU until the 2019 World Cup.

Scannell, who has won seven caps for Ireland, will join Leinster’s Sean Cronin and Rob Herring of Ulster as the three hookers in the 32-man squad for the Test series in Australia. Meanwhile Ireland flyhalf Joey Carbery, below, will move from Leinster to Munster for next season. New Zealand-born Carbery, 22, has made 37 appearances for Leinster since his debut in 2016 but has primarily been used as a full-back this season. Ireland’s Grand Slamwinning fly-half Johnny Sexton is the first-choice 10 for Leinster with Carbery and Ross Byrne competing for game time as deputies.