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.