Kidney injury could scupper Jared Payne’s Six Nations hopes

Ireland centre Jared Payne will be out of action for at least three months after being forced off the field at half-time against Australia last weekend.

The medical teams with the international squad and with his Ulster club carried out intensive examinations and the 31-year-old suffered kidney damage during a bruising encounter.

He seems certain to miss most, if not all, of the Six Nations Championship in the New Year, while Ulster has been immediately denied arguably its most influential back for the back-to-back Champions Cup games with French giants Clermont as the province attempts to salvage qualification for the knockout stages in Europe.