Ireland hopeful injury to Furlong will not keep him out of whole Six Nations 

An update on the assessment of the injury to Tadhg Furlong is due during the week after investigations are completed in Dublin.

INJURY ASSESSMENT: Ireland are hopeful that Tadhg Furlong will not be ruled out of the whole Six Nations competition as they await further information on investigations into the calf injury. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Ireland are hopeful Tadhg Furlong has not been ruled out for the entirety of the Guinness Six Nations following the calf injury that sees him out of Saturday’s opening-round clash with England.

IRFU Performance Director David Humphreys said on Monday that the Ireland’s first-choice tighthead prop calf problem was not as serious as the initially injury which ruled him out for three months between October and earlier this month. Furlong, 32, sat out Ireland’s Autumn Nations Series in November and was still sidelined when a new two-year IRFU central contract for the British & Irish Lion stalwart was announced in December. His return for Leinster’s Champions Cup clash with La Rochelle on January 12 led to a recall by interim head coach Simon Easterby to the Ireland squad ahead of the 2025 Six Nations but he was forced to return to Dublin over the weekend with a recurrence of the injury.

"You know how central Tadhg has been to Ireland's success over the last 10 years,” Humphreys said.

"Yes, there's no doubt that as any player gets older there's an increased risk of injury but he worked incredibly hard with the medical team over the course of the last few weeks to get back for the La Rochelle game and it's certainly not as significant as it was back then and we'd hope to see him back playing in the Six Nations.

"He's back in Dublin now, there'll be investigations and whenever there's something further Simon (Easterby) will be able to update you on the nature of the injury."

While Furlong’s absence from the Aviva Stadium opener is a setback, Humphreys said the temporary loss of head coach Andy Farrell for the championship to concentrate on preparations and selection for this summer’s Lions tour to Australia was not a concern for Ireland’s prospects over the next seven weeks and their bid for a third Guinness Six Nations title in a row.

“Andy Farrell will be missed for any coaching team. In my opinion he's the best rugby coach in the world and that's why he's become such an important part of what we do,” the IRFU Performance Director said.

"Having been on the Emerging Ireland tour and seen how Simon and Paulie (O’Connell), John Fogarty and Andrew Goodman work together, I have absolutely no doubt it will be an easy transition in the next few months.

"Even here this week and back in Dublin, yes Andy isn't here, but nothing else has changed.

"Simon has been a big part of the success over the last few years, he has head coach experience and I have no doubt he'll thrive under the pressure that will come with head coach over the next few weeks."

The former Ulster and Ireland fly-half added that Ireland were in a “really good spot” heading into this year’s Six Nations despite a dip in performance levels during November.

“When the review was taken of the November series, when you look before that, coming into that competition, the provinces weren't playing particular well, some of our key players were probably struggling a bit with their form.

"Compare that with the last month where I think you've seen a lot of our top players playing really well in Europe. That's why we're going into the Six Nations in a really good spot.

"The players are playing with a lot more confidence that comes from having played well."