Blow for Connacht as McSharry out for season

Promising centre Dave McSharry is in a race against time to be fit for Ireland’s summer tour in June.

The 23-year-old is due to have surgery on a troublesome groin injury and looks set to miss all four of Connacht’s remaining games in the RaboDirect PRO12.

McSharry was capped for Ireland Wolfhounds against England in January and was drafted in by Declan Kidney to the extended Irish training squad on a number of occasions.

The Dubliner is poised to be included in the Irish squad to tour to the United States and Canada, or on an emerging squad which will travel to Georgia.

He is scheduled to undergo surgery next week to solve an ongoing Osteitis pubis problem, which has seen him absent since the middle of January.

“Dave is seeing a specialist next week. He is going to have to require surgery so we are just waiting on that,” said outgoing Connacht coach Eric Elwood.

“We have made the call early in the year as regards not trying to force him for the remainder of the year so he is going in to have his groins done,” continued Elwood, who has been showing incoming coach Pat Lam the ropes at the Sportsground this week.

McSharry is not the only injury concern for the province though, as Denis Buckley and Willie Faloon – both also tipped for summer tours – look certain for lengthy spells on the sideline.

Buckley had a scan on an injury he picked up in training and according to a club statement, “will be out for a while with a knee medial ligament injury” while Faloon is seeing a specialist next Monday regarding an ankle ligaments problem.

And with a bout of flu ravaging his squad and further injury concerns about Johnny O’Connor, Eoghan Grace, Paul O’Donoghue and Jason Harris-Wright, Elwood could be forced to bring an understrength squad to Murrayfield to play Edinburgh tomorrow night.