O'Driscoll sits out training with stomach bug

Brian O’Driscoll sat out training today suffering the after-effects of a stomach bug.

However, assistant coach Les Kiss expects the 35-year-old to take full part on Thursday to prove full fitness ahead of Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations clash at Twickenham.

Ireland are chasing their first Triple Crown since the 2009 Grand Slam.

Fit-again Munster lock Donnacha Ryan has “trained the house down” according to Kiss, and is now in contention for the place on the bench vacated by Dan Tuohy, who broke his arm in the 26-3 victory over Wales.

Ryan could now well take a seat on the bench ahead of Ulster’s Iain Henderson and Leinster second row Mike McCarthy.

Kiss said the 30-year-old Munster lock’s long-term club partnership with Ireland captain Paul O’Connell boosts his chances.

Kiss also backed O’Driscoll to return to full health in time to match George Gregan’s world-record caps haul of 139, including British Lions bows, against England.

“Brian has a slight little bug, but he will be fine for Thursday,” said Kiss. “We’re just managing it now, so we expect him to be fully fine by Thursday. “He’s not feeling the best put it that way.

“Paul’s [O’Connell] actually flying through his markers there, which is a big plus. We expect everything to be in a good place. It’s great to see Donnacha back, he’s come back in and trained the house down.

“He’s a definite option; we’ve just got to consider everything, and what our stocks are in that area, but it’s certainly timely for him to be back after Dan Tuohy’s injury.

“Probably some pluses with Donnacha are that he’s worked a lot with Paul in terms of the line-out, and the calling systems are not too far removed in terms of that type of transfer, so that knowledge is a plus.

“In terms of the defensive and attack changes we’ve made since Joe’s come along, he’s got to get his head around those pretty quickly, but Donnacha’s a smart boy.”