Irish winger Tommy Bowe will miss the 6 Nations clash against France in Dublin due to a knee injury which also forced him to miss the 13-11 win against Italy on Saturday. The Osprey’s man is unlikely to feature after damaging his knee and has now been omitted from an extended squad to continue his rehabilitation elsewhere.
The former Ulster man has scored 16 tries in his 36 national appearances so far. The full extent of the injury isn’t known and could cause doubts to be raised over his role in the Ireland World Cup Shirt later in the year.
Bowe’s omission further added to head coach Declan Kidney’s problems after he saw his side struggle to a 13-11 win over Italy.
Ireland were poor throughout and required a late Ronan O’Gara to secure the victory. The former Munster coach did receive a boost however with the news that Number eight Jamie Heaslip, flanker Stephen Ferris and winger Andrew Trimble have been added to a revised 33-man party for the France game.
Heaslip missed the Italy game with an ankle injury but is said to be making good progress and could feature in Dublin.
Kidney now faces a difficult decision after O’Gara’s late show put him in with a chances of starting from fly-half. Jonathan Sexton enjoyed an excellent game on Saturday, but O’Gara believes his experience was crucial in guiding Ireland to victory. He said: “The ability to do that comes with experience – as a youngster you don’t understand that.
“Jonny played well, but I got backed to come on and try to win the game†He added.
Those over at Rugby 15 should note that Sexton will be favourite to start once more, but O’Gara’s calm demeanour may be needed in the face of a French onslaught. Les Blues enjoyed an electric start to the Six Nations, beating Scotland 34-21.
The Irish coaching team have called up an additional eight players to supplement the current 22 man squad. Mick O’Driscoll and Andrew Trimble are amongst the players added ahead of the crucial clash at the Aviva Stadium.