PAIN SAILING!
Injuries spoil the party for Ireland as they breeze past below-par Azzurri visitors
JOE SCHMIDT last night declared himself satisfied that Ireland are live contenders to win their first Six Nations title since 2015, but he was left to count the expensive cost of yesterday’s comfortable 37-point victory over Italy.
Robbie Henshaw is unlikely to be fit to face Wales on February 24 after painfully damaging his shoulder in the act of scoring his second of Ireland’s eight tries. He faces a scan in Dublin today to confirm the full extent of damage, feared to be a dislocation.
Schmidt is also sweating on the fitness of prop Tadhg Furlong, who pulled up lame as early as the fourth minute against the Italians.
Rookie replacement Andrew Porter didn’t look out of place in his first Six Nations appearance, but Furlong’s availability will be viewed as crucial if Ireland are to
grab only a second championship win over the Welsh in five attempts.
‘Robbie looked in a fair bit of discomfort coming off.
‘He is a lot more comfortable now, which is promising, but what is not promising is the degree of discomfort he was in,’ reported Schmidt, who suggested Garry Ringrose could now potentially be rushed back into the side despite his early January ankle injury playing for Leinster.
‘That would certainly be one alternative if Robbie is unavailable which we suspect he will be.’
The coach was less concerned about Furlong’s injury.
‘He felt a tightening on deceleration. For a tighthead prop he probably moves a little more quickly than he should and he felt a bit of tightening. We would be hopeful he will still be okay in two weeks’ time.’
Ireland were far too good for Conor O’Shea’s Italians, who were coming off a six-day turnaround having lost last Sunday to England. Their skipper Sergio Parisse declared the Irish a better side than the defending champions who last night beat Wales 12-6 at Twickenham.
However, the defensively loose manner that Ireland finished out their round two win gives much food for thought, the Italians “winning” the last 25 minutes 19-14 after Schmidt’s side had dominated to lead 42-0.
‘If you had said to me two weeks ago you can have nine points and a 38point differential I would have bitten your hand off,’ said Schmidt, who explained that while Jack Conan came off at the interval with a bang to his shoulder there wasn’t too much concern with it.
‘I do feel we have gained a bit of confidence in going to France and now having the home game against Italy, to get that bonus point just allows us that bit of confidence. But Wales will be a whole different scenario.
‘I was really happy with the way we started, felt we played with some good width but we turned the ball over a lot more than planned which is always a risk.’