Bowe blow softened by BOD optimism

Declan Kidney’s Six Nations ambitions suffered a significant blow yesterday with confirmation that Tommy Bowe will miss the entire tournament after undergoing knee surgery.

However, there was some relief with Brian O’Driscoll’s assertion earlier in the day that he was still hopeful of a mid-to-late January return following his own bout of surgery last month.

Bowe’s bombshell is all the more disappointing given the Ulster wing tweeted the initial prognosis was not as bad as first feared after he was stretchered off during the province’s Heineken Cup defeat last Friday.