Kearney setback adds to Ireland’s worries

More like London buses than Tokyo’s brilliantly punctual trains, Ireland’s injury problems seem to be coming in pairs.

No sooner had Robbie Henshaw been ruled out of Sunday’s World Cup Pool A opener against Scotland with a hamstring injury than reports of another backline problem emerged in Japan last night.

The further disruption could come after veteran full-back Rob Kearney emerged as another injury doubt for the Scotland showdown in Yokohama. Add in the potential loss of wing Keith Earls if he fails to return to training tomorrow, or Friday at the latest, and head coach Joe Schmidt may be about to perform some major surgery on a backline that just a week ago looked to be coming nicely to the boil in time for the pivotal group fixture.

With centre Henshaw rated “very, very unlikely” to play a part in Yokohama this weekend after pulling up with a tight hamstring in training on Saturday and Earls not due to train this week until tomorrow or Friday having suffered a knee knock against Wales on September 7, reports that Kearney suffered a calf injury in training yesterday could be a further blow to Ireland’s plans.

Kearney, 33, won his 92nd cap against Wales in Dublin nine days ago and looked sharp in defence, in the air and with ball in hand, scoring a try in the 22-15 victory.

If he were to become unavailable, Kearney could be replaced by either by Leinster team-mate Jordan Larmour or Munster’s Andrew Conway, who was man of the match from the right wing against Wales in Cardiff the previous week.

While Henshaw will have experienced relief from a positive scan result on his injured hamstring there will have come the sobering reality that the Ireland management cannot hang on indefinitely for it to heal in such a time-pressured tournament as the Rugby World Cup.

The good news for the experienced centre who pulled up during Ireland’s first training session in Japan on Saturday was that the scan that followed on Sunday did not reveal anything that would rule the 26-year-old out of the tournament.

Though Henshaw was in the gym with the rest of the Ireland squad at their Ichihara Suporeka Park training ground yesterday, scrum coach Greg Feek all but ruled the injured player out of this Sunday’s Pool A opening match against Scotland in Yokohama, saying his participation was “very, very unlikely”.

With four pool games and a possible three knockout games every week from now until the November 2 final, though, the clock is ticking on Henshaw’s recovery.

Feek said head coachJoe Schmidt and his staff would have to assess howlong was viable to keep aninjured player in the squadbefore calling in a replacement, most likely to be Ulster utility back Will Addison.

“Yeah, that’s always a question we’ll be asking ourselves,” Feek said yesterday at the Ireland squad’s hotel in Chiba. “You have to make a call, you have to do what’s best for the team and within our squad we’re a tight-knit group and when you name a squad you want to give everyone an opportunity.

This means that if there is something like this, that someone else gets that opportunity, that guy can support him, and then we can just go from there.

“Every team will go through this at some point. There will have to be some tough calls made. There will always be a couple of (these calls) and there’ll be more over the course of the competition but in the end, you just have to do what’s best for the team and I know that’s always Joe’s modus operandi anyway.”

The call for the versatile Addison may become even more urgent with Kearney’s reported setback, with suggestions the full-back may also be ruled out of Ireland’s meeting with Japan, six days on from the Scotland clash. For now, though, Henshaw has that second game of the pool campaign to target in 11 days, when Ireland take on the hosts in Shizuoka.

Henshaw’s absence this weekend means Schmidt will need to consider all three fit centres in his squad with Bundee Aki almost certain to continue at inside centre, leaving a choice between Garry Ringrose and Chris Farrell for the outside centre berth.

For Munster centre Farrell, whether he starts or is on the bench in Yokohama, it is an opportunity he has no option but to try and grab with both hands, just as he did in pre-season to get the nod over Addison with strong performances at both 12 and 13 against Italy and Wales respectively, the first alongside Ringrose, the latter in Cardiff partnering Aki..

“It’s a short campaign and you’ve got to be firing on all cylinders in every game,” Farrell said.

“But that’s the reality of it, that it could be your only chance to get in.

“The devil’s in the detail and the preparation that we’re going to have to do going into the game because we want to make sure that you have as positive an impact as possible.”