Leamy: No shortage of quality in back row

IT has not quite got to the ‘last man standing’ stage but Ireland’s back rowers do seem to have been dropping like flies of late.

Blindside flanker Stephen Ferris missed the second half of last season nursing an injured knee before European Player-of-the-Year Sean O’Brien pulled up lame after Ireland’s second warm-up Test with France and David Wallace’s World Cup ended before it began with knee ligament damage. So from a situation where Declan Kidney had numerous back-row options to select the six players he deemed necessary for the campaign, the Ireland coach has found himself knee deep in injury reports.

Such is life, says Denis Leamy.