Sean O’Brien and Dave Kearney to miss England trip

Ireland look set to be without Sean O’Brien and Dave Kearney for their Twickenham clash with England in two weeks as Joe Schmidt’s injury list lengthened further on a bruising day in Paris.

The Irish grip on the RBS 6 Nations trophy loosened at Stade de France on Saturday as the French ground out a 10-9 victory to leave the visitors’ hopes of a third successive title all but dead after two rounds of the 2016 championship. And ambitions to finally get their campaign up and running in game three on February 27 received a dent as head coach Schmidt effectively ruled his back-row powerhouse O’Brien out of the selection equation along with wing Kearney.

The pair were first-half withdrawals with Mike McCarthy and Johnny Sexton following them to the treatment table after the interval. Lock McCarthy suffered a concussion while fly-half Sexton, once again the focus of heavy attention from the French team having been hit off the ball by Yoann Maestri in the opening 40 minutes, was withdrawn in the 69th minute for what Schmidt described as a “culmination of blows”.