Ireland’s bid to bounce back immediately from the opening weekend defeat by England has been hit by the loss of both centre Garry Ringrose and lock Devin Toner to injury, ahead of their Six Nations trip to Murrayfield to face Scotland.
The pair join No 8 CJ Stander on the sideline, with the Munster forward ruled out for up to four weeks after suffering facial fractures. There was a slice of good news in that wing Keith Earls is on course to recover from the hip injury that forced him off at half-time against England, but the loss of both Ringrose and Toner gives head coach Joe Schmidt a selection headache.
Ringrose suffered a hamstring injury midway through the second half at the Aviva Stadium while Toner aggravated a pre-existing ankle injury, with their absence robbing Schmidt of 82 international caps between them with that number swelling to more than 100 when Stander’s experience is taken into account.
Ringrose’s absence is likely to see Schmidt restore Robbie Henshaw to the centre after his outing at full-back last weekend, which would allow his Leinster teammate Rob Kearney to return to the side after being left out of the matchday side completely due to a lack of match fitness. Both Munster’s Chris Farrell and Ulster’s Will Addison are other options in consideration.
But the loss of Toner on top of Stander not only removes a large presence in terms of ball carrying, but also weakens Ireland’s lineout significantly given that the 6ft 9in Toner normally calls the set-piece.
Connacht’s Quinn Roux is likely to come in to the starting line-up to replace Toner, with the nine-cap 28-year-old a renowned scrummager as opposed to a lineout merchant, while club colleague Ultan Dillane will take his place among the replacements with Munster’s Billy Holland called up as second-row injury cover.
The loss of Toner is not helped by the fact that both Tadhg Beirne and Iain Henderson remain absent for this weekend’s trip across the Irish Sea, with the pair struggling with knee and finger injuries respectively.
