Ringrose Recovery Longer Than Expected While Addison Remains Sidelined

There was mixed news on the injury front when Ireland head coach Andy Farrell spoke to the media in Cork on Thursday afternoon.

He confirmed that those involved in the training camp this week were all involved and fit which includes Caelan Doris and Robbie Henshaw. Doris was removed early on against Scotland due to a head knock, likewise with Henshaw who was removed after 45 minutes against Wales.

“They are fine,” Farrell said. “They have trained fully the last few days.”

It’s a huge positive for Farrell to have those two players available but unfortunately, the good news doesn’t stretch as far as Will Addison. The talented Ulster utility back is still suffering from a calf problem and as such, didn’t travel to Cork with the rest of the squad.

“Will is not here, in the end, he stayed at home because he is managing a calf, he is not going as well as he thought it would have done at the beginning of the week. He wasn’t able to train with us Wednesday, Thursday so hopefully, he can get himself right…we didn’t want to travel him down and travel all the way back up from here (Cork) to Belfast which is a long old journey. So Will is still in rehab mode and hopefully, he will be fit for next week’s training but we will see.”

It is also understood that Garry Ringrose, who had a procedure on a hand injury in the aftermath of the win over Scotland, could be a doubt for the remainder of the Six Nations.

It was originally expected that the 25-year-old could be back in time for the visit of Italy to the Aviva Stadium in Round 4 but it is now possible the centre could miss the entire competition which would no doubt be a blow to Farrell.

The only positive is that Henshaw was excellent when he deputised at 13 against Wales. As was Keith Earls who replaced Henshaw in the second half of the game.

Ireland are due to name their matchday squad next Wednesday for the trip to Twickenham to take on England on Sunday week.