Ireland wait and see on Tadhg Furlong but Mack Hansen and Joe McCarthy ready for Wales

Tadhg Furlong may miss Ireland's clash with Wales

Mack Hansen and Joe McCarthy have been declared fit and available for Ireland’s next Six Nations clash, away to Wales next Saturday week, but Tadhg Furlong’s situation remains less clear.

Hansen sat out the round two defeat of Scotland in Edinburgh with a hamstring injury while McCarthy has missed that and the opener against England with a concussion. Furlong, likewise, has yet to feature in this Championship.

The Wexford prop has managed just 48 minutes, against La Rochelle last month, because of calf and hamstring issues with Ireland’s head of athletic performance Aled Walters speaking for the management group on his well-being on Friday.

“I think we’ll need to make a call during the week, he’s got a bit of work to do,” said the Welshman. “But we’d be anticipating that, if he’s not there, he’s close anyway.” Walters also revealed that there is a “management piece” ongoing for captain Caelan Doris but there was no further detail when pressed with the S&C coach talking generally in terms of “bumps and bruises” after two “attritional” Tests.

“These weeks are great, you get to manage some guys. Some need a push, some need to be pulled back a little bit. That’s just the management piece.” Walters also declared his hope that Simon Easterby does not make any move for the vacant position of permanent Wales manager after the departure from that role of Warren Gatland during the week.

Mack Hansen during an Ireland Rugby squad training session at the IRFU High Performance Centre in Dublin 

“Definitely not, no,” he said. “I’m very Irish despite my accent.

“He’s that good a coach that there’s always going to be speculation. There’s been a change now in Wales, the fact that he lives there he’s always going to be linked. That’s the quality of the man.

“Credit to him, credit to the group: it hasn’t been mentioned, we’re preparing for Wales as we would normally.” The pair go back a long way, to when Easterby was still a player and captain at Scarlets and Walters was at the beginning of a journey that would take him to a variety of posts including Taranaki, the Brumbies, Munster, the Springboks, England and now Ireland.

“I’ve known Simon a long time now, when I worked with the Scarlets Simon was captain and he’s still exactly the same way. He’s so diligent, a great human. He’s very considerate. He’s taken the role very seriously, it’s a measure of the man.

“I think everyone has done a little extra now to make sure that things remain on course [with Andy Farrell on Lions duties], remain as they have been and it’s been great to see. It’s been great to work with him.

“The players seem pretty happy, he even organised a sauna for the boys as well so I don’t know if he’s going for cheap credit here anyway. They love it. How long’s he been with Ireland now? He’s part of the furniture.

“Even in the autumn, he’s a leader in the autumn. He wasn’t sat back in the shadows and then suddenly thrust into the limelight, he’s been there the whole time. It hasn’t felt that different.”