Furlong and Henderson both absent for Ireland
Tadhg Furlong and Iain Henderson will both miss Ireland’s Six Nations clash with Wales at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin after the pair failed to recover from injuries picked up in the thrashing of Italy last time out.
With Robbie Henshaw already ruled out of the rest of the championship due to the shoulder injury he suffered in the same match, head coach Joe Schmidt was already consigned to at least one change to his side, but both Furlong and Henderson have been concerns for the Kiwi over the last fortnight.
With neither fit to play this Saturday due to hamstring injuries, Schmidt is forced into three changes and
has decided to give both Leinster prop Andrew Porter and Munster centre Chris Farrell their first Six Nations starts, while Henderson’s absence is alleviated by the return of lock James Ryan after he recovered from the groin injury that kept him out of the 56-19 win over Italy.
With Wales welcoming back three British and Irish Lions players from injury in Dan Biggar, Liam Williams and Leigh Halfpenny – and Scotland and England still to come in the Six Nations – Schmidt is unwilling to risk the pair this weekend.
“Iain was the closer of the two; Iain could probably have played on Saturday,” said Schmidt. “But Iain wasn’t able to complete training today so we’re not going to risk him.
“I just don’t think it’s worth it with what’s coming up and you don’t want to put him at risk of further injury. He could definitely play next week, and the week after he will be fine.
“We thought with Tadhg he may well make it, but the progress just stalled a little bit so we said ‘let’s not chase this, get you right for Scotland in a couple of weeks’ time’.”
Although the Dublin encounter represents 22-year-old Porter’s first championship start, he was required to come off the bench just three minutes into the victory over Italy when Furlong was struck down by his hamstring injury, while Harris partners Bundee Aki in a renewal of the centre pairing that featured for the Irish last autumn.
The only other change to the starting line-up sees CJ Stander restored to his role as No 8, having been named among the replacements two weeks ago, with Jack Conan reverting back to his place on the bench, while Jordan Larmour drops out of the match-day squad with Fergus McFadden recalled as the 23rd man and Kieran Marmion in for injured replacement scrum-half Luke McGrath.
Another man who does not feature for Ireland is fit-again centre Garry Ringrose, who despite recovering from a six-week injury lay-off, has been sent back to Leinster in order to get game time under his belt. The 23-year-old has been named in the starting line-up for their Pro14 clash with Southern Kings on Friday night, and providing he comes through the encounter unscathed will be drafted back into the squad ahead of the fourth round clash with Scotland.
Ireland squad to face Wales
Rob Kearney; Keith Earls, Chris Farrell, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale; Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray; Cian Healy, Rory Best, Andrew Porter; James Ryan, Devin Toner; Peter O’Mahony, Dan Leavy, CJ Stander.
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Jack McGrath, John Ryan, Quinn Roux, Jack Conan, Kieran Marmion, Joey Carbery, Fergus McFadden.