Court likely to replace Buckley

TOM COURT looks the likely beneficiary of Tony Buckley’s misfortune after the Munster prop was ruled out of Saturday’s clash with Samoa and rated doubtful for the remaining November internationals due to a hip flexor injury.

Rob Kearney is rated a major doubt for the Samoa game due to a knee contusion suffered while scoring Ireland’s final try against the Springboks, while reserve full-back Gavin Duffy will not train this week due to a back problem.

However, Ireland manager Paul McNaughton yesterday confirmed Geordan Murphy is “unlikely” to be called up for this week’s clash, as he is due to lead club side Leicester Tigers out against Australia tonight.