Conan and Kilcoyne doubtful for England clash, Loughman called into setup 

Fogarty also confirmed that Jeremy Loughman had been called into the training squad as injury cover for his Munster squad-mate Dave Kilcoyne, who had picked up a knock in training.

MAKING PROGRESS: Ireland's Jack Conan.

Jack Conan and Dave Kilcoyne have emerged as injury doubts for Saturday’s pre-World Cup Test against England at Aviva Stadium.

Head coach Andy Farrell will name his matchday 23 on Thursday but it emerged on Tuesday that neither back-rower Conan nor loosehead prop Kilcoyne had trained with full squad at the IRFU High Performance Centre in Dublin.

No.8 Conan, whose 2019 World Cup campaign in Japan was cut short after the opening pool game due to a foot injury, failed to finish the win over Italy on August 7 after losing power in his foot, with the 2021 Test Lion watching the second half wearing a moon boot.

Conan did not travel to Portugal last week with the rest of the squad with the Ireland medics preferring to continue his rehabilitation at home, although assistant coach Simon Easterby said the injury did not appear to be a long-term issue and his availability for World Cup selection was not under threat.

Appearing in front of the media on Tuesday, scrum coach John Fogarty confirmed Conan had not trained at Abbotstown but added: “He has been going really well – through the week last week. I haven’t got an update. Andy will be up on Thursday and he will answer, he will give you some further information.

“But I haven’t got an update. He has had a good week, really, really good week.” 

Fogarty also confirmed that Jeremy Loughman had been called into the training squad as injury cover for his Munster squad-mate Kilcoyne, who had picked up a knock in training.

“Dave Kilcoyne is carrying something so we have brought in Jeremy Loughman,” the scrum coach confirmed. “To be honest, it is a pleasure to bring in Jeremy.

“I thought Munster, in the last six games, had done so well and Jeremy was part of that. He is going to add (to us). He had a really good session today. It’s actually brilliant to be able to bring someone like Jeremy in that can add.

“Killer is just looking after himself for the week, so Jeremy will step in with us. It’s good.” 

Asked if Kilcoyne’s injury was a long-term issue, Fogarty replied: “No, it’s not. Again, Andy will talk about the team on Thursday.” 

 The Ireland assistant was more forthcoming when asked about the threat England posed on Saturday. Ireland have beaten their Six Nations rivals in their last three championship meetings but were on the wrong end of a 57-15 Twickenham hammering ahead of the 2019 World Cup and have posed Farrell’s sides problems in those more recent contests, particularly around scrum time, to which Fogarty alluded.

“It’s such a pleasure to be able to pull your jersey on in front of hopefully what will be close to a full stadium against a team that has caused us issues in the past.

“A huge momentum team that bring lots of physicality, look to gain lots of territory and put you under so much pressure through all those things.

“So, it’s a different challenge. It’s probably a step up and I think the timing of that is perfect for us. We are primed and ready for the weekend.

“It’s important that we continue to make good decisions on the field and get a result. We are really looking forward to it.”