Ireland have confirmed that blindside flanker Peter O’Mahony has been ruled out of the rest of their Rugby World Cup campaign, after suffering a knee ligament injury in Sunday’s 24-9 win over France.
The Munster captain will now fly back to Dublin to see a specialist and will play no further part in the tournament.
Captain Paul O’Connell, meanwhile, has been hospitalised with what has been described as a ‘significant hamstring injury’, and is a major doubt for this weekend’s quarter final against Argentina, as well as the rest of the tournament in general. He is awaiting a scan.
Johnny Sexton is also awaiting a scan for a groin injury that saw him hobble off in the first half against France. The prognosis is expected to be more positive than either O’Connell or O’Mahony, although it is as yet unclear whether he will recover in time to feature against Argentina.
O’Mahony joins Jared Payne on Ireland’s permanent injury list, and although the outlook is also bad for O’Connell, no permanent replacements have been called up as Ireland weigh up their options.
“After an incredibly physical encounter a host of players are nursing bumps and bruises and will have to be managed, but nothing more serious than that,” said team manager Mick Kearney.
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
Hmm. A case of winning the battle but losing the war perhaps? Argentina are no gimme.
Ireland have been lauding their bench, and they proved they can fill important shoes when they have to. O’Mahony for me is a big loss. Stars are born when the going is this tough. It’s not all bad.
Madigan looked sharp when he came on and raised the tempo which put France on the back foot but i’m not convinced he has the big game temperament that Sexton has. With Henderson in the squad the loss of O’Connell doesn’t seem as big a blow as it might have been previously. O’Mahony is a big loss as I don’t think the cover in the back row is as good
So your saying the match where Ireland had to win to avoid NZ was NOT a big match?